Thousands murdered annually with unlicensed firearms, while stolen police and army guns also linked to deaths.
Crime scene concept with bullet casings and black gun. Picture: iStock
More than 10 000 people were murdered using unlicensed firearms in South Africa during the 2022/2023 financial year alone, according to figures released by acting police minister Firoz Cachalia in a written parliamentary reply.
Cachalia was responding to a question from FF Plus MP W Wessels, who asked how many people had been murdered using both legal and illegal firearms over the past four financial years, and how many of those unlicensed weapons had originally come from the SA Police Service, the SA National Defence Force or metro police.
Illegal firearms behind bulk of gun murders
According to Cachalia’s written reply, 10 613 people were murdered using an unlicensed firearm during the 2022/2023 financial year.
He said the number rose the following year, with 10 911 people killed using illegal firearms during 2023/2024.
“10 450 during the 2024/2025 financial year and 9 323 during the 2025/2026 financial year,” Cachalia stated, pointing to a gradual decline in the two most recent years covered by the reply.
The minister also gave a partial figure for the current financial year.
“A total of 708 persons were murdered using an unlicensed firearm from 1 April 2026 until 30 April 2026,” he said, covering the single month for which data was available at the time of his response.
By comparison, the number of murders linked to legally owned firearms was far lower across the same period.
Cachalia said 120 people were murdered using a legal firearm in the hands of a licensed owner during 2022/2023, dropping to 90 in 2023/2024, before climbing again.
“108 during the 2024/2025 financial year and 75 during the 2025/2026 financial year,” he said.
For the period between 1 April and 30 April 2026, Cachalia reported that 12 people were murdered using legally owned firearms.
Guns that vanished from police and army stores
Cachalia’s reply also broke down how many of the unlicensed firearms used in murders had previously belonged to state security agencies, beginning with the SA Police Service.
He said 38 people were murdered using a firearm that had once been in Saps possession during the 2022/2023 financial year, rising slightly the following year.
“40 were murdered during the 2023/2024 financial year, 24 during the 2024/2025 financial year and 40 during the 2025/2026 financial year,” Cachalia said, showing the figure fluctuating rather than steadily falling.
Weapons that had gone missing from the SA
The National Defence Force accounted for a much smaller number of deaths over the same four years.
According to the minister, two people were killed using a firearm that had previously been in SANDF hands during 2022/2023, before the figure spiked in the following year.
“Seven were murdered during the 2023/2024 financial year, one during the 2024/2025 financial year and four during the 2025/2026 financial year,” Cachalia said.
The minister’s reply did not include a separate breakdown for firearms that had previously been in the possession of metro police departments, despite that category being part of Wessels’ original question.
