Over the course of four days, police seized five 9mm pistols and arrested eight people on gun charges in Manenberg.
Police arrested a 23-year-old man in Johana Court on Monday August 8, for having a 9mm pistol and four bullets. The gun was registered to a Macassar man who could not explain why he no longer had it, said police spokesman Captain Ian Bennett.
The 23-year-old suspect appear-ed in the Athlone Magistrates Court on Wednesday August 10, and was released on R800 bail. He will reappear on Monday September 19.
* Officers patrolling Duine-fontein Road, on Wednesday August 10, randomly searched a 33-year-old man who was found carrying an unlicenced 9mm pistol loaded with seven rounds.
He was arrested and appeared in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on Thursday August 11 and was remanded to Pollsmoor prison. He will be back in court on Tuesday August 16.
* Also on August 10, in Thames Avenue, police arrested a 36-year-old man carrying a 9mm pistol. He had a single bullet in his pocket. The gun has been linked to cases at Cape Town central, Woodstock, Pinelands and Manenberg police stations.
The man appeared in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on Thursday August 11 and will reappear on Friday August 19.
* Police arrested three men aged 21 to 22, and a 36-year-old woman in Cam Street, on Thursday August 11, after they were found with a 9mm pistol and 15 rounds. The gun was hidden under a carpet in a wendy house.
The suspects appeared in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on Monday August 15.
* In a separate incident on August 11, Metro police arrested a 38-year-old woman, after they searched her Scheldt Walk house and found an unlicenced 9mm pistol and eight bullets hidden under a bedroom mattress.
The gun was stolen in East London in 2013.
She will appear in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on Monday August 15.
Lansdowne police are worried about a spike in armed robberies in the area, with 11 cases reported from Monday August 1 to Thursday August 11.
Police spokesperson Ser-geant Nkululeko Mnyaka said most of the victims had been waiting at bus stops or walking to and from the train stations in the vicinity of Imam Haron, Lansdowne, Turfhall and Jan Smuts roads.
So far police have made five arrests.
Three men robbed a man as he walked on the field in Dol-omite Road, Penlyn Estate, on Monday August 1, at 6.30pm.
When the man tried to hold onto his bag, one of the muggers pointed a gun in his face.
The men fled with their victim’s house keys, garage remote and R800 in a white Guess wallet. They are still at large.
Two men in balaclavas robbed a man of his wallet, a jacket worth R1 000 and a cellphone worth R8 000, on the corner of Lansdowne and Drayton roads on Thursday August 4, at 11.30pm.
The man, who had been on his way home from work, was sitting in the passenger seat of a car when one of the masked men knocked on the window with a gun. The robbers are still at large.
Lansdowne station commander Colonel Herman Seals urged the public to be vigilant and not display their cell-phones or other electronic devices when walking in the streets or using public transport.
Anyone with information can contact Lansdowne detectives at 021 700 9000 or 082 576 2804.
Police say anonymity for information given is guaranteed.
