Saai submits complaint about destroyed firearms to Parliamentary Portfolio Committee

The Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) today filed a complaint to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police after receiving incomplete and worrying information regarding destroyed firearms. The South African Police Service (SAPS) was compelled by the High Court on 11 March to release full details about the destruction of more than 50 000 firearms. However, Saai believes the information received does not provide answers to critical questions. The SAPS records, which identify 16 806 destroyed firearms and parts that were not subjected to the Integrated Ballistics Identification Systems (IBIS) test, are incomplete and do not align with other information sources in Saai’s possession. After further questions to the police went unanswered, Saai is now seeking answers from the portfolio committee about the processes, policies and regulations governing the destruction of firearms.

This step stems from the prolonged litigation process that began in 2022 when Saai sought answers for farmers about 24 901 firearms that were destroyed and a few months later had to raise questions about another 26 002 destroyed firearms. The court order of 11 March therefore meant that Saai had to be provided with answers concerning more than 50 000 firearms.

On 12 April, SAPS sent two Excel spreadsheets to Saai. On 15 April, Saai’s legal team highlighted in a letter to the police that the submission of these two documents did not comply with the court order. On 24 April, SAPS then sent PDF documents containing information from various provinces. The fact that provincial information does not appear on the original Excel documents is alarming. According to Saai’s legal team, it seems that the Excel documents only contain national information on destroyed firearms. On 30 May, this legal team sent another letter requesting the missing information, including a destruction certificate and a Government Gazette notice for the destroyed firearms and parts. The letter went unanswered and Saai had to try to determine what the cryptic and incoherent information in the Excel documents meant.

The Excel documents are confusing and raise further concerns that there is no effective record-keeping of weapons being destroyed. “Are the weapons really being destroyed or do they end up in the hands of criminals? Could the weapons that are destroyed be evidence in criminal cases? How credible is a document that anyone can simply enter information into?” These are some of the questions posed by Francois Rossouw, CEO of Saai.

There are several cases where numerous firearms with exactly the same serial numbers are listed in the Excel document. For example, one Excel entry indicates that a total of 149 “Gecado Air Rifles” were destroyed, all with the same serial number (“0”), but it’s later listed as 9 mm pistols manufactured by Lorcin Engineering. There are also cases where a firearm was manufactured in January 2022 and destroyed two months later. Although such cases are possible, they are highly unlikely.

“The SAPS must provide concrete evidence that the destroyed firearms were subjected to the IBIS test and were indeed destroyed, and not simply provide a meaningless Excel document. Saai will continue to press for clarity on the process of destroyed firearms, as there are already too many incidents that raise concerns about the police’s ability to responsibly manage weapons. Just a week ago, the Minister of Police revealed that more than 29 000 rounds of ammunition had gone missing in a six-month period,” Rossouw concluded.