People have been urged to take advantage of the new firearm amnesty period to hand in illegal or unwanted firearms and ammunition, either to be destroyed or to renew their competency certificate and licence.
The new firearm amnesty period will run from 1 August to 31 January 2021.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Brenda Muridili, National Police spokesperson, the previous amnesty period which was also intended for a period of six months between December 2019 and May 2020 was thwarted by the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic.
“Despite this, the South African Police Service (SAPS) received a resounding 46 714 firearms.
However, we believe that there are much more firearms out there that still need to be surrendered, and we are confident that the response to the previous amnesty would have been even more resounding if it were not for the pandemic.”
Muridili said the restrictions of Levels 5 and 4 somewhat prevented people from turning in illegal as well as unlicensed and unwanted firearms and ammunition.
“This had prompted the Minister of Police, General Bheki Cele to approach Parliament to approve a new six-months amnesty period. The approval has been published in the Government Gazette on 31 July 2020 which now allows all persons with illegal or unwanted firearms as well as ammunition to hand them in at their nearest police station. We are urging people to take advantage of this period.”
She added that the latest National Crime Statistics once again showed that firearms were the preferred weapon when committing most of the violent crimes.
Reducing the firearms in circulation may potentially reduce the scourge of violent crimes quite significantly and ensure that people living in South Africa are and feel safe.
“It must be noted that no indemnity will be granted for firearms used to commit any crime. All firearms that have been handed in will undergo ballistic testing to ensure that they have not been used in the commission of any crimes, before they can be considered for destruction.”
For enquiries about the amnesty, contact the FLASH Call Centre on 012 353 6111 or send an email to cfrenquiry@saps.gov.za.
