More than 1,700 illegal firearms from Lesotho destroyed in Gauteng

More than 1,700 illegal firearms seized in Lesotho have been destroyed in Gauteng under a joint cross-border policing initiative, according to a report on the operation.

The weapons were transported to South Africa for destruction after being recovered during targeted operations in Lesotho over the past year. Lesotho relies on the South African Police Service for access to the specialised smelting capacity used in the process.

Police said the firearms were tested before being brought into South Africa through Interpol channels. The testing was intended to establish whether individual weapons could be linked to crimes before they were destroyed.

The guns were melted at a Gauteng foundry, where the furnace operates at about 1,648 degrees Celsius. The process removes the weapons permanently from circulation.

The operation forms part of the African Union's Silencing the Guns initiative and ongoing cooperation between South African and Lesotho police against cross-border crime.

South African police destroyed almost 12,000 locally seized firearms in a separate operation two months ago, according to Eyewitness News. More than 300,000 illegal guns have been destroyed in South Africa over the past seven years.

The latest operation concerns firearms already seized by law-enforcement agencies. The report did not provide a breakdown of weapon types or say how many had been linked to specific criminal cases.

Testing before destruction preserves investigative information that may be relevant to open cases. Once those checks are complete, smelting prevents the recovered weapons from returning to illegal circulation through theft, loss or resale.

South Africa and Lesotho share extensive policing and border-management responsibilities, including investigations involving stolen vehicles, firearms and organised criminal networks operating across the border.