Two male guards aged 32 and 46 are expected to appear at the Emalahleni Magistrate’s Court
today, Wednesday, 31 May after Police in Witbank arrested them on 30 May around 13h30.

According to the report, members from Visible Policing in Witbank were patrolling thereby
maintaining high visibility around their policing precinct including in an area called
Siyanqoba. These men and women in Blue then spotted a suspicious white Toyota Etios
which overtook them at a high speed and members noticed also that there was something
fishy as the said car had no number plates both in front and at the back.

The Etios were then approached by the astute members and ordered to stop thereafter the car
as well as the two occupants were searched which resulted in the discovery of two magazines
with ammunition for a rifle. Further than that two AK-47 rifles and 4 ZM rifles were found
inside the said vehicle. The number of live rounds found is about 136. The two men identified
themselves as security guards however that did not detour the members from apprehending
them as it is prohibited to be in possession of some of the firearms they had. The pair was
then locked up and charged accordingly. The recovered items were seized by the Police for
further investigation.

Preliminary investigations by the Police thus far have revealed that the licences for four rifles
(except the two AK-47 rifles) had already expired which made Police believe that the guards
were unlawfully in possession of unlicensed firearms with ammunition, and they (suspects)
were also in possession of prohibited firearms with reference to the AK-47 rifles.

As part of the ongoing probe, the confiscated firearms will undergo ballistic testing to
determine whether they were not used previously in the commission of a crime. The results
thereof may lead to more charges added against the suspects.