Mpumalanga SAPS is searching for a group of armed men who made away an undisclosed number of firearms from the Badplaas police station. According to information received, the men stormed the station, allegedly overpowered the officers and made off with the firearms. SAPS Brig. Leonard Hlathi stated that no arrests have yet been made: “A number of armed men entered the CAC in Badplaas police station and threatened the members on duty with their firearms. They managed to disarm to of the members of their service pistols, and forced them to open the safe in the community service centre, where they took one R5 rifle.

The suspects fled the scene, no shots were fired and no injuries were reported.” Amidst contradicting reports stating that two pistols and an undisclosed amount of cash was also nabbed. The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) has come forward, blaming the incident on understaffing and a lack of leadership. “There has not been much progress in ensuring that we deal with the uneven allocation of resources within police stations, and in ensuring that the South African Police Service (SAPS) is restructured to ensure that we get more manpower on the ground where crime is actually happening.” Richard Mamabolo, POPCRU spoksesperson, stated.