A 33-year-old Emalahleni man appeared briefly in Emalahleni Magistrate’s Court after he was allegedly found with nine different kinds of unlicensed firearms with 617 live rounds on Friday, 24 March 2023 at about 16h00.
Martin Frederik Nelson was granted bail of R3 000 and is expected to be back in court on 10 April 2023.
His arrest came after police reacted to a tipoff from the community about a man allegedly acting irresponsible with firearms in his possession.
According to the whistle blowers, the suspect allegedly threatened people with firearms and appeared intoxicated. On police arrival at his residence, he was allegedly found with two firearms, a revolver and a rifle next to him. Police searched the house whereby seven rifles, two shotguns, one revolver, one pistol and the said ammunition were found in his possession.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect had four firearms registered under his name, but only two firearms had valid licences. Seven of the firearms were reportedly inherited from his father, but there were no licences obtained by the suspect.
The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Major General Zeph Mkhwanazi has applauded members of the public for alerting police about the weird behaviour displayed by the suspect. The General further appreciated the swift response by police which resulted in the arrest as well as confiscation of the firearms with ammunition.
