No fewer than 1.5 million rounds of ammunition have been reported stolen during the recent unrest in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces.
Media reports from the country say the ammunitions were stored in a container at a depot in Prospecton, which was breached by looters on Wednesday.
The containers have been housed in a container stacked high off the ground.
An unauthenticated shipping invoice appears to show that the ammunition was purchased from Compagnia Brasileira de Cartuchos, one of the world’s largest ammunition manufacturers, by Centurion-based outdoor and sporting goods firm Formalito in February.
The invoice shows that the container had 800,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition, and several hundred thousand rounds of .38, .32, .44, .45, .357 and .40 calibre ammunition.
Security agencies were said to be tracking the bullets.
Johan Coertze, an ammunition importer, says the bullets belong to him.
“I can’t really give specifics about numbers and calibres, but they were ours. They were imported by us, and I am meeting the Hawks on Monday,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, disclosed that 10, 000 rounds of ammunition, believed to have originated from same container, have been seized.
Supporters of embattled former President Jacob Zuma stormed the streets in protest after he was jailed for 15 months for contempt of the court. Zuma, 79, had refused to appear before the Constitutional Court in a hearing on corruption allegations against his person.
No fewer than 117 people have died and more than 2,000 have been arrested in South Africa’s worst unrest in years which has lasted over seven days.
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