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SAPS ballistics expert, Brigadier Mishak Mkhabela, has disclosed that police were forced to repurpose a museum into a secure storage facility to house more than 29,000 firearms linked to killings across the country.<\/p>\n
Testifying before the Madlanga Commission on Monday, Mkhabela said the backlog of gun-related cases had become so overwhelming that even the country\u2019s most secure storage facilities could no longer cope.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anyone wants to appreciate the level of high crime involving firearms in South Africa, one must just visit my strong room where I keep exhibits,\u201d Mkhabela said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt any given point, I have more than 29,000 firearms \u2014 and each of those firearms has killed a victim. We are living in a dangerous country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The brigadier painted a grim picture of an overburdened system: only 42 analysts were responsible for handling tens of thousands of firearms linked to violent crimes, each requiring meticulous forensic testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to repurpose a museum to make it a safe,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s now full. We don\u2019t have space anymore. We receive more than what we can process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mkhabela\u2019s testimony underscores the critical strain on SAPS forensic services and the magnitude of firearm-related violence plaguing South Africa.<\/p>\n
Analysts, he revealed, were stretched to breaking point, forced to manage overflowing evidence bins and exhausted facilities \u2014 a situation he described as both \u201cdangerous and unsustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The staggering volume of seized weapons highlights the deadly toll of gun violence and the urgent need for stronger gun control measures, faster case processing, and investment in forensic capacity.<\/p>\n
As Mkhabela put it, every gun in their storage has taken a life.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mkhabela denied that ballistic reports in connection to the murder of engineer Armand Swart were tempered with. <\/p>\n
The commission continues on Tuesday to hear testimony from the other SAPS ballistics officers.<\/p>\n
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za<\/strong><\/p>\n Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SAPS ballistics expert, Brigadier Mishak Mkhabela, has disclosed that police were forced to repurpose a museum into a secure storage facility to house more than 29,000 firearms linked to killings across the country. Testifying before the Madlanga Commission on Monday, Mkhabela said the backlog of gun-related cases had become so overwhelming that even the country\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":257868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[8636,19467,450,3240,2041,13565,19468,4390,18943,510,236,18990],"class_list":["post-257867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-backlog","tag-ballistics","tag-cases","tag-chief","tag-commission","tag-crippling","tag-forensics","tag-gun","tag-madlanga","tag-police","tag-reveals","tag-staggering"],"yoast_head":"\n