Law enforcement authorities from South Africa and Lesotho have strengthened regional cooperation in the fight against the proliferation of illegal firearms, resulting in the safe transportation and destruction of 1 787 firearms seized during crime-combating operations in Lesotho.
The joint initiative between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) took place in the context of African Amnesty Month and contributes to the African Union’s broader Silencing the Guns objective and its Agenda 2063 vision of a peaceful, secure and prosperous Africa free from the scourge of illicit firearms.
The Acting National Commissioner of SAPS, Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, together with LMPS Police Chief Commissioner Advocate Borotho Matsoso, jointly presided over the destruction of the firearms on Friday, 11 September 2026.
The firearms were seized by LMPS officers during various crime-combating initiatives and targeted operations in Lesotho.
Dimpane reaffirmed SAPS’s commitment to strengthening international and regional police cooperation through joint investigations, information exchange, intelligence-led operations, coordinated border management and the tracing and removal of illegal firearms from circulation.
She said the partnership demonstrated what regional cooperation could achieve, adding that removing firearms from circulation was a concrete step towards safer communities and an Africa where illicit firearms no longer fuel crime and violence.
Matsoso reiterated the importance of sustained cross-border collaboration between law-enforcement agencies and thanked SAPS and other role players involved in ensuring the success of the joint initiative.
He said continued cooperation between LMPS and SAPS was important in combating crimes such as human trafficking, stock theft, car theft and truck trafficking.
The National Central Bureaus of INTERPOL in South Africa and Lesotho played a key role in facilitating and coordinating the movement of the firearms between the two countries, underscoring the importance of international police cooperation in combating the proliferation and cross-border movement of illegal firearms.
SAPS said the destruction formed part of ongoing efforts to permanently remove illegal firearms from circulation. Two months earlier, SAPS had destroyed 11 859 firearms together with 4 089 blank guns and airguns.
The two police services said their partnership under SADC and SARPCCO frameworks demonstrates the value of regional cooperation, information sharing and coordinated policing in disrupting transnational organised crime and tracing illicit firearms.
Source: SAPS.
