Tackling fraud in firearm training
It is estimated that there are over a million licensed gunowners and over three-million registered guns in South Africa.
This figure excludes the amount of guns owned by the defence force, government agencies, the SAPS and the private security industry, which is quadruple the size of the police force.
This is according to Andre Pretorius, a director of the The South African Professional Firearm Trainers Council (SAPFTC).
SAPFTC is a non-profit company that aims to properly and professionally regulate the firearm trainers and assessors of South Africa with clear performance standards and guidelines of best practice.
“The gaps in the previous method of QA, and the amount of fraud that has been uncovered, has been of enough concern for the minister of Police set up a Commission of Enquiry in September 2013.
“In the past, the firearm assessor registration process was a mere paper exercise and no previous firearm experience was verified. Once accredited, the training provider was able to issue its own certificates which resulted in cases of fraudulent activity, where certificates were being issued to the highest bidder,” says Pretorius.
Pretorius notes that firearm training is a specialist activity that takes years to master.
“Can you imagine the detrimental consequences of an untrained armed response officer? Our body seeks to remedy this by ensuring that the trainer is trained appropriately and legitimately and then, that the training is monitored and evaluated on a quarterly basis.”
The SAPFTC has modelled its processes around existing unit standards, firearm laws and South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) requirements.
“Firearm training providers previously accredited with Safety and Security, Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA), will be recognised and will now be monitored and evaluated by the SAPFTC. The majority of South Africa’s security organisations that provide firearm training, and over 90 per cent of the country’s firearm training providers have already successfully migrated from SASSETA onto the SAPFTC accreditation system.
“While the transition from SASSETA to SAPFTC may create a small inconvenience to a few training providers, the benefits for the South African public are immense,” concludes Pretorius.
