Gauteng premier moots tighter gun control after AKA, Motsoane murders

• The murders of hip hop star Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and celebrity chef Tebello Motsoane have reignited the debate over illegal guns. 
• Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said serious action is needed to strengthen gun laws. 
• He was speaking after a visit to the Forbes family on Sunday. 

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi called for serious action over illegal guns following the merciless public murders of hip hop star Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his close friend, celebrity chef Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane. 

“As a state, it’s high time that we take a particular stance and attend to this matter,” Lesufi said.

In a sombre interview outside the family’s home in Johannesburg, Lesufi said strengthening gun laws was discussed at length at a recent lekgotla.

“Our lekgotla was very clear: we will approach the legislatures, but we need a debate and serious action. If you can’t act, those who have illegal guns will finish those who are law abiding. And those who have illegal guns will play God and decide who lives, who dies.”

This would apply across the board, from private security companies to armed illegal miners.

WATCH | Friends and family of the late Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes arrive at his Joburg home to pay their respects

Forbes and Motsoane were shot dead outside a restaurant on Florida Road in Durban on Friday night. 

The delegation of ANC officials who visited the star’s family included ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and ANC Gauteng provincial secretary TK Nciza. 

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime noted in a report in 2021 that guns are currency in underworld circles and that many illegal weapons come from civilian gun owners whose firearms have been lost or are stolen from state institutions. 

In 2016, for example, police colonel Chris Prinsloo was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for more than 20 charges of racketeering, corruption and money laundering relating to the sale of around 2 000 guns to gangsters in Cape Town. The guns were supposed to have been destroyed. 

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