By Andre Koopman

Freedom Front leader Constand Viljoen has vowed to leave the country if he has to surrender some of his weapons, as required by the strict new firearms law, which allows only two weapons - a handgun and a shotgun - for self-defence.

Speaking at Parliament on Wednesday, Viljoen said that to the Afrikaner the gun was "second only to his wife". The general owns 12 firearms and is "emotionally attached" to several weapons which he would not be prepared to give up, he said.

At a meeting of the National Assembly's committee on safety and security on Wednesday, Viljoen, in an impassioned plea, called on the government to "let my people keep their guns".

The former SA Defence Force chief said that to Afrikaners, surrendering fire-arms to authorities was an emotional issue and the government did not seem to understand the implications of this.

The move was reminiscent of the 1902 Treaty of Vereeniging where Afrikaners had to hand in their guns to the British. "A century later we have to hand in our weapons to a black government."

This would not go down well and would have serious implications for reconciliation since it would be viewed as the government, once again, ignoring the needs of Afrikaners.

Viljoen is widely credited for his peace-making role during negotiations leading to the democratic dispensation and was praised by former president Nelson Mandela for the role he played then.

Safety and Security Committee chairperson Mluleki George appealed to Viljoen not to emotionalise the matter. A leader of his "stature" should not threaten to leave the country as a response to a bill intended to curb the country's serious problem of gun violence, he said.

George said the issue would be debated in the committee, where Viljoen's concerns would be addressed. The committee was being briefed on the bill by its drafter, Louis Kok, chief legal adviser to the national commissioner of police.

In terms of the new gun laws, people who own more than one gun have five years to dispose of their excess weapons, after which they must be forfeited to the state.

In a lighter vein just after Viljoen made his threat about leaving the country, an ANC MP asked if he would be leaving with his guns fully loaded. The general misheard and said he may be a "fool" but was serious about the matter.

Another ANC MP quipped that the general should stay and become a gun collector since collectors are allowed more firearms. Viljoen seemed to accept these remarks in the spirit they were tendered.

Asked to comment on Viljoen's statements, political pundits pointed out that he had been returned to Parliament last year with a vastly reduced majority - down to three seats from 14.

There was also a big difference between the modern urban Afrikaner and the boer commandos of the last century, they said.

A delegation of the SA Gunowners' Association (Saga) and allied groups arrived at Parliament pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with objections to the bill. Saga claimed that the load represented 300 000 petitions.

Meanwhile, the Gun Control Alliance (GCA) welcomed the tabling of the bill, with chairperson Sheena Duncan saying that it was a significant step towards stricter gun legislation urgently needed to halt the gun violence crisis in SA.

"The bill is not about taking people's guns away from them. It is about more effectively regulating firearms to reduce the number of people that are injured and killed each day by guns in South Africa."

The GCA was pleased that many of its recommendations were taken up in the bill, including the provision that people who have been convicted of an offence in terms of the Domestic Violence Act be prevented from owning a gun. People convicted of other serious violent crimes would also be declared incompetent to possess a firearm licence.

But Nthabiseng Mogale, director of People Opposing Women Abuse (Powa) said the bill failed to adequately address the provision of firearms to state officials.

"Research shows the female partners of soldiers, police and security officers are more likely to be the victims of gun-related violence in the home."

Published on the Web by IOL on 2000-05-24 21:22:13