Durban - The National Freedom Party in KwaZulu-Natal has called for police to put more boots on the ground to get rid of illegal firearms in the province after a spate of shootings.
The call comes after six people were murdered in uMbumbulu at the weekend. The murders come after several shooting incidents in the past two weeks in which more than 10 people were killed.
The party said the shootings were threatening the stability of the province, which had come from a volatile and violent past.
NFP’s Canaan Mdletshe said over the past seven days, almost 20 deaths had been reported in the province, and fears are mounting that this coming long Easter weekend could be the bloodiest ever for the province.
‘’It's scary and terrifying. Residents are clearly under siege. The province has an ugly history of tensions and mass killings. In fact, history books will testify that KZN remains the most violent province in the country. It holds the record of the most political assassinations, taxi violence and murders, mass killings, faction fights, and it is the headquarters of hired hitmen (izinkabi),” he said.
Mdletshe said there's a high number of illicit guns circulating in communities, dating back to decades ago when weapons were distributed to various communities and hostels to incite violence.
He added that some of those guns had not been collected, and they remained in the hands of ordinary people.
He believes that something drastic has to be done, including random search and seizure operations.
‘’We call on the Security Cluster Ministers to intensify the deployment of increased law enforcement agencies. We need to have more police personnel on the ground. The proliferation of illegal guns clearly demonstrates that we have to do things differently.
“Tightening gun laws is not working. If we cannot have more police deployment, then members of the Army must be roped in. Law-abiding citizens live in fear and are held at ransom by criminals,” added Mdletshe.
THE MERCURY