A used anti-tank grenade launcher, allegedly kept as a souvenir in a KwaZulu-Natal man's bedroom, has landed him in trouble.
|||Durban - A used anti-tank grenade launcher, allegedly kept as a souvenir in the bedroom of a northern KwaZulu-Natal man, has landed him in trouble.
Tihan Kuypers, 64, appeared in the Pongola Magistrate’s Court on Friday and was charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm in terms of the Firearms Control Act.
He was remanded in custody and the matter was adjourned until Thursday for a bail application.
The weapon is an Armbrust anti-tank grenade launcher, manufactured in Germany, a police source said.
Essentially all that is left after the missile is fired is an empty tube with sights on it.
“This unit is disposable and can only be used once. This one has already been used.”
Ballistics experts were inspecting the weapon, and investigations of how the man came into possession of the launcher were receiving priority, police said yesterday .
With the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit starting in Durban tomorrow, police are taking no chances.
Police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said the launcher was a military weapon and it was a serious offence for any citizen to be in possession of it.
Zwane said Pongola police had acted on a tip-off about an unlicensed firearm at a house in Piet Retief Street.
Members of the SAPS visible policing unit and detectives swooped on the man’s house just after midday on Wednesday.
Zwane said he allegedly failed to produce the necessary documents for the weapon.
The police source said Kuypers, who worked as a handyman for an irrigation systems company in Pongola, had been taken aback by his arrest.
The source said the man had said he kept the weapon as a souvenir after he found it while renovating a house in Gauteng in 2006.
“He seems to be interested in old military weapons. He claims to have found it in Pretoria seven years ago.
“He has kept it ever since. It is in good condition, but of no use,” he said.
The source said it was alleged that two hitch-hikers who had been living in the suspect’s house had informed the police after he had asked them to move out.
“It is believed they could have reported him to police out of anger,” the source said.
Daily News