Police announce delay in firearm licence application processing

People applying for new firearm licences will now have to wait even longer for their applications to be approved.

This as the SAPS central firearm registry has extended their turn-around time for a firearm licence application from 90 working days to 120 working days.

This comes as police have been taking more than the normal 90 working days to administer the applications.

“After taking all factors into consideration as well as to allow for proper administration of applications, the period for the finalisation of these applications has now been extended,” said spokesperson for the national police commissioner Brigadier Vish Naidoo.

“Firearm licence applicants are therefore requested to please exercise patience and allow the police to do due diligence in administering these applications.

“An assurance is given that everything possible is being done to process these applications within the new 120 working days turn-around time.”

This is after the SAPS central firearm registry confirmed that firearm license applications had been delayed due to various reasons, with the Covid-19 pandemic being the leading reason.

Naidoo said the SAPS, like any other government department, had been affected by the pandemic.

“This situation has resulted in unexpected consequences on the service delivery front,” he said.

“This virus has been the cause for employees to frequently self-isolate after having tested positive or coming in contact with persons who tested positive for the virus and the SAPS had not been immune to this.”

He said in compliance with the national disaster management regulations as well as other safety-related protocols, SAPS members were often operating at reduced capacity.

He said in the event a positive case was detected, buildings were evacuated for purposes of decontamination adding to the delays.

Naidoo said the Minister of Police approached parliament with a request for the declaration of an extension to the firearm amnesty period after the amnesty, which was declared from 1 December 2019, ended on 31 May 2020.

“This request was approved by Parliament and the second amnesty period was declared, also for a period of six months, commencing from 1 August 2020 until 31 January 2021.”

Naidoo said applications for licenses in respect of surrendered firearms during the amnesty period compounded the situation after the number of firearm licence applications increased by more than 80% for the duration of amnesty.

“Applications for licences in respect of surrendered firearms require an entirely different process to that of a normal renewal of licences, which inevitably prolongs the turn-around time for their finalisation.”

“While the SAPS put measures in place to mitigate the above-mentioned situation, we have an obligation to ensure that strict virus protocols are complied with,” Naidoo said.

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