Durban - MORE firearms and ammunition could have been handed in during the six-month firearm amnesty had it not been for the lockdown imposed from March 27, says Police Minister Bheki Cele.
Sunday was the last day for gun owners to hand in their firearms.
Before the end of the month, more than 16 000 firearms and more than 140 000 rounds of ammunition were handed over.
Despite calls for the amnesty period to be extended, there has not been any information from the Portfolio Committee on Police after Cele sent a written request to Parliament requesting an extension after noticing a sharp decline in voluntary handovers during the lockdown.
During a recent media briefing, Cele said that since December thousands of firearms and ammunition were handed in, but in April only 385 were handed in.
“We believe this sharp decline since April may be because of the lockdown which has limited the movement of people, as the handing over of firearms is not necessarily categorised as an essential service,” said Cele.
South Africa marked the start of global disarmament week (October 24 to 30) with the announcement of a firearms amnesty that would run from December 1 to May 31.
Gun Free SA researcher Claire Taylor said the organisation was surprised that SAPS was urging firearm owners to take advantage of the last few days of the firearms amnesty and hand firearms and ammunition in before June 1.
“When the lockdown was declared, the public was discouraged from going to police stations, including for firearm-related issues, which most certainly impacted on hand-in rates. This situation has not changed under level 4. It is confusing for the public to suddenly be urged to hand in guns and ammunition under the amnesty just days before it ends, when lockdown conditions remain, conditions which will only be eased a day after the amnesty ends,” said Taylor.
She said they were aware that Cele was taking steps to have a new amnesty declared that would end on December 31.
Taylor said Gun Free SA urged Parliament to approve the new amnesty. Moreover, for Parliament to ensure the conditions of the new amnesty be met, including that Cele provide monthly updates - a condition of the current amnesty which he did not fulfil.
In the last firearm amnesty period, from January 11 to April 11, more than 42000 firearms were handed in.
In the last three amnesty periods, more than 120000 firearms and more than 1.8million rounds of ammunition were recovered.
Meanwhile, Cele was in KwaZulu-Natal on Friday and he called on the national commissioner General Kehla Sitole and provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Khombinkosi Jula to give priority to the increase in murders in the province since the lockdown.
“It is quite concerning that while most provinces have seen a decline in the contact crime category, KwaZulu-Natal appears to be leading with murders since the lockdown.
“This current state of affairs needs to be halted before it escalates,” he said.