While Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula announced an investigation into the disappearance of around 30 police-issue firearms from the Mitchells Plain and Bellville charge offices, it is common knowledge that much of the gang violence in Cape Town has been fuelled by the sale of guns to criminals by members of the SAPS. In August, the Cape Labour Court ruled that two of the province’s most senior anti-gang specialists, Peter Jacobs and Jeremy Veary, be reinstated in their jobs after they had been unexpectedly shafted by former acting National Commissioner Khomotso Phahlane. However, SAPS national leadership is appealing the ruling. There is something deeply rotten in the state of the SAPS in the Western Cape. By MARIANNE THAMM.