Gun barrels needed: Rangers from the Virunga National Park in the DRC. The park has contracted Truvelo to supply it with steel components to manufacture gun barrels. (Alexis Huguet/AFP/Getty Images)
A case of alleged mistaken identity involving a consignment of steel components might end up in court after a combined South African Police Service task team led by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) executed an operation in the Durban harbour last week.
A container of “firearms” allegedly destined to be “smuggled” abroad was confiscated during an investigation into possible international trafficking in firearms from South Africa, said Hawks spokesperson brigadier Nomthandazo Mbambo.
However, the firearm manufacturer of the components, known as billets ― Africa Defence Group/Truvelo ― and armaments specialists alike say billets cannot be defined as gun barrels in terms of the Firearms Control Act.
A criminal case was also opened against the firearms manufacturer in South Africa for contraventions of the Act. But the manufacturer is fuming over what he says is a case of the wrong interpretation by the police in declaring the steel components ― which still need to be tooled into firearm barrels ― as firearms.
The consignment has, nonetheless, been confiscated and will not be going anywhere until the police investigation is concluded and all evidence submitted to the National Prosecuting Authority for a decision on whether to prosecute.
Truvelo alleges the billets are not considered controlled items in terms of the National Conventional Arms Control Act either ― that much the company had confirmed before exporting the container. Therefore, the company argues, it did not have to apply for export permits from the Directorate of Arms Control.
Ironically, the Hawks’ operation took place in the same area from which a container with 1.5-million rounds of ammunition “disappeared” during theJuly unrest in KwaZulu-Natal.
On Sunday morning a WhatsApp message began circulating widely among local arms industry stakeholders. The detailed message was addressed to a general in the police and described how the meticulous investigation was started in October this year.
The manufacturing company, Africa Defence Group/Truvelo was named as the “culprit” and the operation was called an “operational success”.
How the investigation unfolded is even more perplexing to the owner of the company. He showed the Mail & Guardian a thick ledge containing all his documentation, permit as a gunsmith and firearms manufacturer, and all the meticulous processes the consignment needed to be approved, declared to customs, inspected and sealed by an agent of the authorities before it was shipped to the Durban harbour.
Maoto Mabogwane, the deputy chief executive officer of Truvelo Specialised Manufacturing in Midrand, said the contract was concluded with Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The park is a Unesco World Heritage Site, internationally recognised for its exceptional wildlife and habitats for endangered species.
According to the park’s website, the world’s entire population of critically endangered mountain gorillas live only in the Virunga Massif and Bwindi National Park, which spans parts of the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda. Virunga National Park is home to about a third of those gorillas.
With internal conflict between warring groups still rife in the DRC, the gorillas are protected by rangers 24-7, with hundreds of rangers also responsible for keeping intruders away from both the gorillas and other endangered species.
The park is funded by various international philanthropists and even connected to some royal families in Europe. The rangers use a variety of AK47s manufactured in different countries, which means the guns also have differences in their barrels.
The barrels need to be replaced on a regular basis, owing to damage and wear and tear. The contract with Truvelo was concluded not only to provide the park with generic billets, but also to provide a fully equipped containerised workshop to technicians working for the park. A team of specialists from Truvelo was then contracted to train the personnel in tooling and fitting their own barrels for the different types of guns.
The contract was approved by the highest authorities of all parties involved, because Truvelo is the only manufacturer in Africa able to assist with the park’s dilemma. A follow-up contract is in the pipeline to supply more billets to the park’s workshop to assist other national parks in the DRC with their upgrades. It is supposed to be an African solution to an African problem, Mabogwane said.
The first consignment of billets and the containerised workshop had already been cleared by customs and loaded onto a ship for transfer to the DRC when the Hawks pounced recently, says Mabogwane. He was then notified that the two containers would be opened for inspection and was awaiting instructions from the Hawks to be present on the scene, but was informed that the area was by then “an active crime scene”.
Mabogwane saw the WhatsApp message, which by then had gone viral — including to Truvelo’s clients, who wanted to know what was going on.
The Firearms Control Act defines a firearm as any device manufactured or designed to propel a bullet through a barrel or a “device which is not at the time capable of discharging any bullet, but which can be readily altered to be a firearm”.
According to Truvelo, the Hawks’ operation has the potential to seriously harm the company’s reputation, with some clients already indicating they have put certain contractual negotiations on hold until the matter has been cleared.
In response to the M&G’s queries, Mbambo responded with a slightly different version of the viral message, omitting the company’s name.
In the original message it was stated the “firearms were disguised by rubber end caps and the barrels filled with grease to prevent physical inspection of any threading on the inside….[a] method well known in the trafficking of firearms internationally”.
In Mbambo’s version she stated the “410 firearms (7.62mm calibre barrels) were misdeclared and disguised to prevent inspection”.
Mabogwane’s team explained that any such components are filled with grease as protection against the elements and corrosion. The grease is removed by running a strip of cloth through the billet to clear it within seconds. The team also demonstrated that the stated calibre ― nor any other bullet ― could not fit into the opening of the billet; therefore, it does not fit the description of the Act.
An urgent meeting was convened with senior officers at the Hawks head office in Pretoria last week in an attempt to clear the air, and Truvelo was asked to submit its own statements and documentation for the investigation. It could be months before the containers will be allowed to leave for the DRC.
According to advocate John Welch, president of the South African Gunowners’ Association, who previously worked for the National Prosecuting Authority, billets are not firearms. In this case, the dispute lies in the interpretation of the Firearms Control Act. He confirmed that the consignment is currently considered evidence in a criminal matter and, thus, cannot be released.Informed sources suggested to the M&G that the whole matter was probably instigated when one of the people involved in earlier stages of the contract negotiations demanded a “facilitation fee”, which Truvelo refused to pay.
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