Gun Free South Africa believes illegal firearms have contributed to the escalation of murder cases in the country as revealed by the latest crime statistics released this week.
According to the statistics, murder went up by 1.8% in the 2016/17 period.
Gun Free South Africa (GFSA) was formed in 1995 to reduce gun-related violence in the country.
GFSA director Adele Kirsten said the statistics were unsurprising.
“It is unfortunate that the minister and the police seemingly have no system in place to deal with illegal firearms and ammunition,” said Kirsten.
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According to Kirsten, South Africa has seen a steady rise in violent crime since 2012. Murder has increased a staggering 22 percent since then from 15 554 murders in 2011/2012 to 19 016 in 2016/2017.
Between 35 and 40 percent of the murders in 2016/2017 were committed with a gun. This amounts to 18 to 21 gun-related murders a day.
“The minister has little to say about illegal firearms and when he did, he spoke about introducing the military to townships. This shows a lack of understanding on his part about the implications of illegal firearms.”
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GFSA said it was deeply concerned that the minister failed to present a clear plan in parliament yesterday to recover illegal guns and strictly regulate legally held guns.
“A Medical research council investigation has proven that the decline in South Africa’s overall murder rate between 2000 and 2010 was a direct result of introducing stronger gun laws, which saved thousands of lives from gun violence.
In 2012, this trend began to reverse.
“Gun violence can be stopped,” said Kirsten.
“Police minister (Fikile) Mbalula must mop up the illegal pool of guns in our communities, and ensure that the firearms control act is enforced. Or, if he’s really serious about taking action, he needs to be bold and declare South Africa gun-free.”
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