Cape Town - Vektor, the small arms manufacturing unit of arms company Denel, has advised its customers to `not load or use` its popular CP1 9mm parabellum pistol.
This is a setback for the company`s plans to restructure and link up with a foreign partner, possibly Colt, the US small arms manufacturer. It has also provoked criticism from the unions.
A newspaper ad placed by the company warns customers that the gun ``might cause injury or death to the shooter or bystander`` if ``bumped or dropped``.
The pistol, which was designed and developed locally, does not have a history of reliability. At one point the entire range had to be recalled and modified at the manufacturers` expense.
Since its launch in 1995, the CP1 has been popular, selling 13 000 units. Its selling points are its compact size, lightness and relatively cheap price - about R1 300.
According to Leon Joffe, the general manager of Vektor, ``It was intended E for easy concealment, in a handbag or man`s trouser pocket.``
A Cape Town dealer who has stopped selling the CP1 said: ``This is not a gun for a target shooting enthusiast. It is a mid-weight personal self-defence pistol. In the past two years I sold about 20.``
The CP1 achieved some success as an export and more than 6 000 were sold abroad, mostly in the US. Any accidents in that country could render Denel liable and potentially on the receiving end of a class action suit. This has already happened to several gun makers in the US.
Vektor is uncertain about how or whether to remedy the problem, since a solution is not ``currently available``.
Joffe hopes a new device to lock the safety pin would be ready ``within the next two months``.
Dumisa Ntuli, a spokesman for the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa, reiterated his concern that this announcement ``will be a further factor in the restructuring which is being sought by management which will lead to Vektor taking the corporate route, which will in turn result in many job losses and possibly the closure of the factory``.
This latest announcement has done little to generate confidence in the parastatal arms manufacturer, which is awaiting an announcement from Denel on its future.