Over 20 000 firearms have been destroyed at a site in Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng.

Three quarters of these weapons were handguns. Under 3000 were rifles and over 1800 were shotguns. It’s the second gun destruction for this year. In March just over 26 000 were destroyed bringing the total to nearly 47 000. Majority of the firearms were surrendered and voluntarily handed over to police the firearms amnesty.

The office of the Nation Police Commissioner has vowed that will continue to intensify their operations to detect and remove illegal firearms and ammunition from the streets.

Gun violence is a problem in the country and over the past year or two mass shootings in Khayelitsha and other townships have raised concern about the easy access to firearms. Imitation firearms have also contributed to the deadly gun violence.