“A crime intelligence report about a dangerous weapon was
operationalised, and led police to a gathering in Braamfontein where students
were in attendance,” said police spokesperson Brig Mathapelo Peters.
“It is at this gathering where members observed two
students in Stiemens Street carrying an automatic rifle. The officers kept
close watch and saw the pair drive off in a vehicle. The car was followed and
ultimately stopped by the Johannesburg Flying Squad and the Tactical Response
Team in Auckland Park.”
The police searched the vehicle and found a Galil, an
automatic rifle of Israeli-make, with a loaded magazine.
The students, a male aged 24 and a 21-year-old woman, were
arrested immediately. They are expected to appear in the Johannesburg
magistrate’s court on two charges of possession of an illegal firearm and
ammunition, and possession of a dangerous weapon, Peters said.
Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela has ordered
an urgent investigation.
“This goes to prove the magnitude of the problem police are
facing in terms of the proliferation of illegal firearms. That this could be in
the arms of a student is worrisome, notwithstanding the question why a firearm
of this calibre was brought to a gathering of students in the first place,”
Mawela said.
The police have for the past week been monitoring protests
by students of various tertiary institutions in Gauteng, particularly in
Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, some universities have reached agreements with
protesting students. Sowetan
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