RUSTENBURG HERALD - RUSTENBURG - As part of intensified efforts to ensure community safety, police arrested four suspects for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition in separate incidents.
North West Police Spokesperson, Col Adéle Myburgh said in Rustenburg and Marikana, intelligence-led operations conducted on Thursday, 8 January 2026, and Friday, 9 January 2026, by a multidisciplinary team followed up on information regarding suspects allegedly involved in serious and violent crimes.
The operations included members from Crime Intelligence, Provincial Detectives, the Provincial Crime Combating Unit deployed in Rustenburg, District Visible Policing, the Rustenburg Mounted Unit, the Tactical Response Team (TRT), Detectives, and the Crime Combating Team. The police were further supported by Bidvest Security and the Royal Bafokeng Tactical Response Team.
She said during the first incident on Thursday afternoon, 8 January, a 35-year-old Lesotho national was arrested after police conducted a search at his residence in Bleskop Informal Settlement near Rustenburg. A rifle and ammunition were found, and the suspect failed to produce a valid firearm licence.
In the early hours of Friday, 9 January, the team continued with the operation in Kroondal, where a 22-year-old Lesotho national was arrested after being found in possession of an unlicensed AK-47 rifle loaded with ammunition inside his room. In an adjacent room, a third Lesotho national, aged 35, was found in possession of 25 rounds of ammunition and was also arrested. Additionally, a 27-year-old man, suspected of being in the country illegally, was arrested for contravening Section 49 of the Immigration Act, Act 13 of 2002.
The team then proceeded to a final address in Marikana on the same morning, where a 26-year-old suspect was arrested after police discovered a 9mm pistol with ammunition in his possession, which he could not account for. Preliminary investigations have linked this suspect to a murder case reported in Rustenburg during October 2025.
All suspects were expected to appear before the Rustenburg and Brits Magistrates’ Courts respectively on Monday, 12 January.
