PRETORIA – Law enforcement authorities from South Africa and Lesotho have strengthened their joint efforts to combat the proliferation of illegal firearms, culminating in the safe transportation and destruction of 1 787 firearms seized during crime-fighting operations in Lesotho.

The initiative, involving the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS), forms part of regional efforts to remove illicit weapons from circulation and prevent them from being used in further criminal activity.

The firearms were destroyed on Friday, 11 September 2026, under the joint leadership of Acting SAPS National Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane and LMPS Police Chief Commissioner (Adv) Borotho Matsoso.

Firearms seized during Lesotho operations

The weapons were confiscated by LMPS officers during various crime-combating initiatives and targeted operations across the Kingdom of Lesotho.

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.

The process highlights the importance of coordinated cross-border policing in preventing illegal weapons from being transferred between criminal networks.

SAPS commits to stronger regional cooperation

Speaking at the destruction, Lt Gen Dimpane reaffirmed SAPS’s commitment to strengthening international and regional police cooperation.

This includes joint investigations, information sharing, intelligence-led operations, coordinated border management and the tracing and removal of illegal firearms from circulation.

“As we observe African Amnesty Month, this partnership between SAPS and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service demonstrates what regional cooperation can achieve,” Dimpane said.

“We are not only taking firearms out of circulation; we are taking concrete steps towards the Africa we want to see by 2063, an Africa where communities are safer and where illicit firearms no longer fuel crime and violence.”

Police target cross-border organised crime

Commissioner Matsoso reiterated the importance of sustained cooperation between the two law enforcement agencies and thanked SAPS and other role players involved in the initiative.

“Continued cooperation between the Lesotho Mounted Police Service and SAPS is important to uproot crimes such as human trafficking, stock theft, car theft and truck trafficking,” Matsoso said.

“Today’s destruction demonstrates collaboration between two countries committed to fighting crime together.”

The partnership operates within broader regional policing frameworks, including the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO).

Part of ongoing firearms destruction programme

The destruction of the 1 787 firearms forms part of continued efforts to ensure that weapons seized during police operations do not return to criminal hands.

SAPS said it had destroyed 11 859 firearms, together with 4 089 blank guns and airguns, just two months earlier.

The latest initiative also supports African Amnesty Month, the African Union’s Silencing the Guns objective and the broader vision of Agenda 2063 for a peaceful, secure and prosperous Africa.

Regional authorities say such cooperation remains essential to disrupting transnational organised crime, tracing illicit firearms and reducing the weapons that fuel crime and violence across borders.

ALSO READ: Six Lesotho nationals killed in shooting near Johannesburg