- The Tyefu police station in Peddie, the Eastern Cape, was broken into and stripped of its arsenal of firearms this week.
- Thieves got into the locked station while the two officers on duty were responding to a domestic violence complaint.
- The same station came under attack in January from angry Eastern Cape villagers who were fed up with "unreliable" and "useless" police officers.
Thieves broke into the Tyefu police station in the Eastern Cape this week, making off with several firearms, ammunition and computers.
According to an incident report addressed to acting Sarah Baartman District police commissioner Brigadier John Lebok, which News24 has seen, the suspects made off with an R5 rifle, two 9mm pistols, six full 9mm magazines and one R5 magazine with 28 rounds.
Two police officers were the only ones on duty and locked the main door, burglar gate and yard gate to attend to a domestic violence complaint at around 20:00 on Sunday.
They only returned to the police station in Peddie at 04:00 on Monday as they had to remove the alleged abuser from a house together with his belongings and transport the victim to hospital, according to the report.
At the station, the yard gate was still locked and they noticed the burglar gate had been forcefully opened, and the door broken.
Exhibits that were locked in a safe were scattered on the floor.
One of the officers saw the safe was open and discovered the firearms were missing.
The thieves had also broken into two offices and took two computers.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana told News24 the officers had left to respond to an emergency situation "because there was violence involved in the incident and this necessitated that police officers enforce the law to avoid loss of lives".
He said the police were investigating a case of burglary.
The suspects remain at large.
In January, the same police station came under attack from angry villagers fed up with "useless" and "unreliable" police officers. They locked up six police officers.
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union provincial secretary Zamikhaya Skade said the union had been raising the issues of chronic staff shortages and lack of security in rural police stations for far too long.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident on Friday, police recovered an R5 rifle that was stolen, along with two 9mm pistols, when five armed robbers stormed the Moyeni police station on 19 December.
The rifle was found inside an abandoned bakkie in Paterson.
It was found by two police officers who were patrolling the N10 towards the Paterson turn-off.
The two officers became suspicious after spotting a white bakkie whose lights were turned off.
Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said they followed the vehicle, which had no licence plates, to a nearby garage.
Two occupants got out and fled on foot via a pathway near the garage, added Govender.
"The members followed but could not locate the men. They then returned to the vehicle, which was opened and conducted a search procedure.
"They noticed a black and red tog bag, and on further searching the bag, they found an R5 rifle and two loaded magazines with over 40 rounds of live ammunition for the said weapon."
The vehicle was also seized, she said.
Govender added preliminary investigations revealed the vehicle was not stolen, while the rifle was stolen from an Eastern Cape police station in December 2020.
Forensic investigators and specialised units were mobilised to conduct further investigations, she said.
Lebok commended the officers for their vigilance and speedy response.
Anyone with information that can lead to the arrest of those involved in the Tyefu police station raid can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10 111.