“The South African Police Service has lost more than 26025 SAPS firearms in 12 years but still continues with attempts to start the process of disarming law-abiding citizens. The police must stop the blame game and face the facts.” said Ian Cameron of #SafeCitizen.
Cameron explained that “between 2005 and 2017 (12 years) SAPS has lost, had stolen from them or is simply unable to account for 26025 SAPS guns issued to police officers. This was reported as 18196 guns between 2005 and 2011 and 7829 between 2009 and 2014”.
Minister Cele’s figures to parliament in 2019 included almost 10,000,000 rounds of ammunition, of which more than 3.2 million rounds was missing in the Eastern Cape alone. 2018 saw nearly 500 000 rounds of police ammunition reported missing in one year.
These figures exclude military firearms unaccounted for. In 2011 SANDF admitted to SCOPA that it could not account for 82,000 firearms. ‘The Defence Department said it cannot say the weapons are missing or stolen because it could be that they were simply not properly registered.’ (EWN March 2011).
This incompetence extends to the Metro Police forces too, as an example, Ekurhuleni Metro is on record a while back as reporting over 700 guns missing, and there is recent testimony in the Zondo commission about the State Security Agency giving guns to friends.
For years and years SAPS have shifted the blame for guns in criminal hands onto private gun owners, while their own officers have been complicit in feeding guns to criminals. Quite apart from the downright criminal conduct of selling amnesty guns to underworld bosses, SAPS and other official institutions have been proven to be less than competent at controlling their own firearms.
#SafeCitizen will be taking part in the DA gun summit on 22 June to emphasise the need for the amendment bill to be scrapped in its entirety.
Firearms.co.za supports the #SafeCitizen Campaign, get involved, get armed, be ready!
