No guns stolen — SANDF hits back at ‘misleading’ air base break-in claims

SANDF

Johannesburg – The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has denied claims that arms or ammunition were stolen during a break-in at Bloemspruit Air Force Base in Bloemfontein on 13 August.

SANDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Prince Tshabalala said only items of “limited tactical value” were interfered with, stressing that national security was not compromised.

He dismissed media reports as misleading and rejected attempts to link the incident to an earlier theft of a bus engine.

“The SANDF wishes to place on record that no arms or combat weapon systems were stolen, contrary to the claims published in some media reports,” said Tshabalala.

“Such reporting is misleading, irresponsible, and has the potential to cause unnecessary alarm.”

“The items interfered with were of limited tactical value and pose no threat to national security or public safety. For operational security reasons, further specifics cannot be disclosed at this stage,” Tshabalala added.

“The SANDF also strongly refutes attempts to link this incident with the unrelated matter concerning a bus engine previously reported. The said engine was old and earmarked for auction. The engine was allegedly stolen on 6 May 2025. These are separate incidents, and any suggestion of a connection is both inaccurate and unfounded.”

The Democratic Alliance (DA), however, condemned the incident as evidence of poor security at military bases, citing broken alarms, unmonitored CCTV, and weak perimeter defences.

The DA has demanded Defence Minister Angie Motshekga and senior SANDF officials appear before Parliament to present a detailed, costed security recovery plan within seven days.

Security at the base has since been reinforced, and investigations by the Military Police are ongoing.

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