Members of WC Parliament concerned weapons smuggled from Namibia used by gangs

CAPE TOWN - Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament on Thursday expressed concern about police and military weapons being smuggled from Namibia to supply gangs in Cape Town.

As ongoing shootings in the province claim lives almost daily, a recent Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime report confirmed guns are being smuggled from Namibia to supply Cape Town gangs.

Earlier in 2025, Western Cape Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile said police seized more than ninety firearms that were traced back to Namibia.

A Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime report released in September confirms Patekile's statement.

The report says a Namibian police source confirms ninety of the seized guns are Namibian police pistols.

READ: SAPU WC calls for better crime-fighting strategies in province

An African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) member in the provincial Parliament, Ferlon Christians, said it's a massive concern.

"People are dying day in and day out with firearms - not even pistols or revolvers, but AK-47's, rifles, hand grenades, uzzis floating around in gangsters' hands."

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, along with Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais, and city Mayco Member for Safety and Security JP Smith will brief the media on Friday, related to the ongoing gang violence in the province.