Johannesburg: Law enforcement authorities from South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho have strengthened regional cooperation in the fight against the proliferation of illegal firearms, resulting in the safe transportation and destruction of 1,787 firearms seized during crime-combating operations in Lesotho.
According to South African Government News Agency, the joint initiative between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) takes place in the context of African Amnesty Month and contributes to the African Union's broader Silencing the Guns objective and its vision, under Agenda 2063, of a peaceful, secure, and prosperous Africa free from the scourge of illicit firearms.
The Acting National Commissioner of SAPS, Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, together with the LMPS Police Chief, Commissioner (Advocate) Borotho Matsoso, jointly presided over the destruction of the firearms. SAPS stated that these firearms were seized by LMPS officers during various crime-combating initiatives and targeted operations in the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Speaking at the destruction, Lieutenant General Dimpane reaffirmed SAPS's commitment to strengthening international and regional police cooperation through joint investigations, information exchange, intelligence-led operations, coordinated border management, and the tracing and removal of illegal firearms from circulation. He emphasized that this partnership between SAPS and LMPS demonstrates what regional cooperation can achieve in making communities safer and preventing illicit firearms from fueling crime and violence.
Commissioner (Advocate) Matsoso highlighted the importance of sustained cross-border collaboration between law enforcement agencies and expressed gratitude to SAPS and all relevant role players involved in the joint initiative. He noted that continued cooperation is crucial to uproot crimes such as human trafficking, stock theft, car theft, and truck trafficking.
The National Central Bureaus of INTERPOL in South Africa and Lesotho played a key role in facilitating and coordinating the movement of the firearms between the two countries, underscoring the importance of international police cooperation in combating the proliferation and cross-border movement of illegal firearms.
SAPS continues to demonstrate its commitment to effective firearms control through processes aimed at permanently removing illegal firearms from circulation. Recently, SAPS destroyed 11,859 firearms, alongside 4,089 blank guns and airguns. The destruction of these 1,787 firearms forms part of ongoing efforts to ensure that weapons seized through policing operations do not return to criminal hands.
The partnership between SAPS and LMPS exemplifies the value of regional cooperation, information sharing, and coordinated policing under the SADC and SARPCCO frameworks. Such collaborative efforts are essential to disrupting transnational organized crime, tracing illicit firearms, and contributing to the continental objective of Silencing the Guns by 2030 and advancing the Africa envisioned under Agenda 2063.