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“We’re back to levels that we had in the late 1990s, and need urgent action to reduce the availability of guns, says Gun Free SA.”

On Friday, Police Minister Bheki Cele released the latest crime statistics, and the numbers are nothing short of worrisome.

The statistics reveal that more than 30 people are gunned down in South Africa every day and that guns are the leading murder weapon.

Between October 2022 and December 2022, there were 7555 murders, which equates to 82 murders per day.

Non-profit organisation Gun Free South Africa says the public’s lack of confidence in the police is hampering the government’s efforts to fight crime in the country.

There has been an increase in sales of firearms for self-defense, says Taylor.

As a result, the number of guns available to criminals to steal and use in crime increases.

“We really need to be focusing on reducing the number of guns in this country, and part of that involves ensuring that there is public trust in the police.” – Claire Taylor, Researcher – Gun Free South Africa

Policing is not going to solve violence in the country, argues Taylor.

Statistics showed that the majority of the murders are related to interpersonal disputes, and the police cannot be expected to always intervene in such cases, she adds.

“The reality is that when there are so many guns in this country, whether it’s an argument, or whether it’s men killing men, the prevalence of guns means that the killing is so much easier.” – Claire Taylor, Researcher – Gun Free South Africa

Instead, in order to deal with the issue at hand, there need to be longer-term solutions:

• Transparency by the police

• The reestablishment of specialised firearm units. Random roadblocks to recover illegal firearms are not sufficient

• Prioritisation of community member’s voices

The scale is too big. We have a virus of gun violence.

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