After Cafda Shooting – But How Are So Many Illegal Guns Still on Our Streets?
CCN Reporter – George April
Steenberg:- It’s a familiar scene on the Cape Flats: shots ring out in a quiet street, a suspect flees, and once again police are left wondering where yet another unlicensed firearm came from.
On Friday night, 27 February 2026, at about 22:05, Steenberg SAPS members responded to a reported shooting in Beethoven Street, Cafda. A sharp-eyed member of the public pointed them in the right direction, and within minutes officers found a 31-year-old man nearby – still carrying a 9mm Parabellum pistol and 24 live 9mm rounds.
He had no licence.
He was arrested on the spot for possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
What makes this case even more concerning? The gun was heavily rusted, with every manufacturer marking and serial number completely obscured. Investigators say it’s virtually impossible to trace its legal owner. The weapon has been booked as an exhibit and will undergo full ballistic testing to see if it has been used in other crimes.
The suspect is due to appear in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court tomorrow, 2 March 2026.
Police win the battle , but the war rages on. Steenberg police and the broader #GunsOffTheStreets campaign deserve credit for this quick response and the public’s help.
Every gun taken off the street is one less threat to families.
Yet for many residents, this arrest only raises the same frustrating questions you hear every week in Steenberg, Lavender Hill, Manenberg and across the Cape Flats:
– How are there still so many illegal weapons circulating?
– Where do they keep coming from?
– Why does it feel like the supply never dries up, no matter how many arrests are made?
The answers aren’t simple, but the patterns are well known:
Many guns start life as legal firearms that are stolen from homes, cars or security companies.
Others come through police corruption or direct theft from station armouries.
A steady trickle is smuggled across borders – hidden in trucks from Namibia, Mozambique or Zimbabwe.
And then there are the “ghost guns”: older weapons whose serial numbers have been filed off or, like this one, simply rusted away after years of street use.
Western Cape crime stats show police are seizing hundreds of illegal firearms every quarter (821 cases detected in one recent three-month period alone, a 13% jump). Yet firearm-driven violence and gang shootings continue to put massive pressure on communities.
It’s easy to see how drugs flood the streets, demand, money, networks. But weapons?
These are deadly tools designed to kill. Their easy availability turns arguments into funerals far too often.
As one Steenberg local put it: “It’s unbelievable how many wapens are still on the streets.”
Steenberg police have urged anyone with information about illegal firearms, shootings or gang activity to contact them or Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
Anonymous tips have already proved their worth in this case.
Every gun removed saves lives. But until the pipelines feeding these weapons are shut down for good, Cape Flats communities will keep asking the same painful question: how did it get this bad – and how do we finally end it?
Investigations into the exact ownership and criminal history of the seized 9mm continue.
Source: SAPS Western Cape
https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?
