Hundreds of government-issued guns lost or stolen – including assault rifles
Government-issued firearms continue to be lost or stolen in South Africa, and recent parliamentary Q&As to the Ministers of Defence and Military Veterans, Police, as well as Justice and Correctional Services, revealed these departments are not too concerned as a slap of the wrist is handed to those who misplace their weapons.
According to the parliamentary Q&As posed by FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald, the government itself is a significant source of firearms for criminals and is failing to address the matter seriously.
Between the 2019 financial year and the end of last year, 42 firearms were stolen from the Defence Force – including 33 R4 and R1 assault rifles.
More than 3,000 rounds of ammunition for assault rifles were also stolen. The other stolen firearms were mostly handguns, along with another 3,000 rounds of ammunition.
Only five Defence Force members were successfully charged. Groenewald noted that the rest of the cases remain unfinalised, and prosecution was not instituted.
Between the 2019 financial year and the end of last year, Justice and Correctional Services experienced 19 incidents of either stolen or lost firearms and ammunition, including 18 handguns and 295 rounds of ammunition.
Two members were dismissed. The rest were given warnings or forfeited, at most, one month’s salary. Preventative steps include monthly inspections and surrendering firearms on a daily basis.
What stands out in the replies is the light penalties imposed on members of these departments for the loss or theft of firearms and ammunition. In some cases, guilty members were fined a single month’s salary or given only a written warning, which does not serve as an effective deterrent, noted Groenewald.
The tip of the iceberg
The same questions posed to the Minister of Police were not answered as the department noted that the information forms part of an ongoing class action brought against the South African Police Service (SAPS).
However, this information was finally revealed in early January, with the department revealing that 1,725 official SAPS firearms were stolen between April 2021 and July 2023.
That amounts to 61 firearms stolen every single month over the last two and a half years.
The figures for the 2023/24 financial year look set to breach the 800 mark for the first time in over 10 years.
In addition to this, the Portfolio Committee on Police revealed at the end of 2023 that they were concerned about the number of firearms owned by the SAPS that were stolen or lost.
“It is concerning for the committee to note that 742 firearms owned by the SAPS were confirmed as stolen or lost, which is 142 more than the target of 600. The committee called for a more effective strategy to reduce the loss of SAPS-owned firearms,” it said.
According to the latest Crime Stats, Firearms remain the most frequently used instrument to commit murders, accounting for 2,756 murders nationwide.
A separate parliamentary Q&A answered by the Minister of Police last year revealed that 1,066 murders were committed and linked to police-issued firearms since 2016.
This instance and the number of murders committed using these police-issued firearms seem to be only the tip of the iceberg.
According to the South African Gunowners Association (SAGA), 10% of the SAPS’s firearms have been reported as lost or stolen over the past two decades, while 9.5 million rounds of ammunition have gone missing since 2016.
He added that these stolen firearms are and will likely be used in hijackings, transit heists, Zama Zama (illegal mining) wars, and criminal syndicate hits.
In the past five financial years, 3,405 official police firearms were stolen or went missing, while between 2005 and 2017, 26,025 firearms that were issued to police officers were stolen or could simply not be accounted for, according to a City Press report.
Groenewald highlighted that the only preventative measures being taken by the affected departments include “repairing broken fences” surrounding buildings that hold state-owned firearms, monthly inspections, and surrendering firearms on a daily basis.
“The information above makes it clear that this is a big problem while the steps taken, prosecution and prevention are all small-scale. Meanwhile, there is a steady stream of dangerous firearms from the state ending up in criminals’ hands,” said Groenewald.
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