Public hearing to look at firearms amnesty

A DISCUSSION on strict control measures when members of the public hand over guns during the firearms amnesty is expected to take centre stage when Parliament holds a public hearing this week.

On Thursday, the portfolio committee on police will consider a request from Minister of Police Bheki Cele for the approval of the sixmonth amnesty starting on September 1 until February 28 next year.

In his draft notice for the amnesty, Cele said applications should be handed to a designated amnesty officer at any police station.

He also said the concerned firearm and ammunition should be surrendered and the applicant issued with a receipt as proof.

Those wishing to apply for firearm licences should notify the designated amnesty officer in writing of their intention to do so.

“The application for a licence must be lodged within 14 days from the date on which the firearm was surrendered . . .” reads the draft notice.

The amnesty takes place amid a legal tussle between the police and Gun Owners South Africa (GOSA), which recently won an interdict barring the police from demanding that persons surrender firearms with expired license.

GOSA chairperson, Paul Oxley, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But, the Freedom Front Plus’ Pieter Groenewald said his party would push for persons with expired licences to keep the firearms in the safes when applying for new licences.

“The FF+ is concerned when people have to hand over their firearms because the police do not have capacity to keep them safe,” Groenewald said.

He said the matter was so serious because a written response to his parliamentary question put the number of firearms with expired licences at 377 000.

“I will request that people with expired licences keep their firearms in a safe as required by law and then apply for new licences,” he said.

Groenewald said his party was in support of the amnesty but “against handing over firearms when police cannot guarantee that they will be safe, especially when firearms are stolen and SAPS members are involved in firearms smuggling”.

Chairperson of the South African Gunowners’ Association (SAGA), John Welch, said they were in favour of the amnesty, but one of their biggest concerns was the security of the firearms.

“It has happened in the past that firearms have been stolen from police stations. In fact, police stations have been robbed at gunpoint by criminals,” Welch said.

“They have, in many instances, ransacked the SAPS exhibit store – unfortunately that is where firearms are kept.

“If those firearms then disappear, either being stolen or lost or whatever the case may be, certainly that will not hold well for the police,” he added.

The portfolio committee has previously showed support for the firearm amnesty, but emphasised that it needed to be assured that strict protocols would be put in place for the storage, testing and destruction of the surrendered firearms.

“The proposed amnesty should be an effective mechanism to ensure that unwanted firearms are removed from the streets,” committee chairperson Francois Beukman previously said. THE ANC has joined the call for lower data costs across all mobile networks in the country.

ANC national spokesperson, Pule Mabe, said that the high cost of data was denying people the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the digital economy.

“The ANC continues to be concerned about the negative impact that the high cost of data services has on ordinary South Africans, especially workers, youths, students and women.

“As a result of the high cost of data, the majority of our people are unable to enjoy the benefits of the digital economy in our democracy. It further stifles the growth and development of small businesses.

“The ANC believes that lowering the cost of data will be a catalyst for economic growth.

“It will unlock economic opportunities and thus contribute to economic growth and job creation,” said Mabe.

Campaign

He said that the party supported the #DataMustFall campaign and called on government to implement regulations in support of the campaign.

“The ANC calls on all relevant stakeholders to take urgent steps to ensure implementation of this important policy imperative. We urge the regulator and mobile operators to move swiftly in finding an amicable solution to the disputes surrounding regulations of the ‘Code of Conduct for Electronic Communications Services’.

“We are encouraged that some operators have taken the first step to lower data prices since the popular call for lowering data costs. However, this is not enough. The mobile operators must demonstrate goodwill and lower data prices and allow government to resolve the allocation of new spectrum.

“The release of spectrum international mobile telecommunications services (IMT-Advance) is expected to also resolve most of the constraints experienced by mobile operators and also accelerate the roll-out of broadband networks in rural areas, particularly the wholesale Wireless Open Access Network (WOAN) earmarked in the policy,” he said.