Top cop Masemola denies that guns destroyed by SAPS linked to Mkhwanazi's allegations

JOHANNESBURG - The national police service has assured the country that it did not destroy firearms linked to allegations made by its KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

At the weekend, Mkhwanazi made bombshell claims that firearms linked to the killing of high-profile people and artists were languishing in police custody with no action taken.

On Wednesday, police conducted a firearm destruction operation where over 12,000 guns in police custody were reduced to scrap.

The South African Police Service acknowledged that Wednesday’s firearm destruction operation comes at a time when public trust in the law enforcement agency was at its lowest.

National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola was asked if the guns being destroyed on Wednesday were the same ones mentioned by Mkhwanazi.

"No, no, no, they won't be. Remember, there are still cases pending, so those firearms are still going to be preserved as evidence, so society shouldn’t think I am here to destroy those firearms."

Masemola said that police only destroyed firearms whose investigations had been completed.

Out of the 12,499 firearms destroyed on Wednesday, almost half (5,099) were seized by police in Gauteng.