Amnesty: Arms still pouring in

2005-05-10 10:46

Durban - Since the start of a firearm amnesty period at the beginning of January, 33 815 legal firearms were voluntarily handed in countrywide, police said on Monday.

"We are succeeding and people are heeding the call," said national police spokesperson director Phuti Setati. He urged more people to come forward with their firearms and ammunition before the amnesty period expired at the end of June.

"Failure to do so will mean that the consequences are going to be bitter."

Setati said 25 361 illegal firearms had already been surrendered nationally, while 12 025 were confiscated in "normal operations like roadblocks", which brought the total number of amnesty period firearms now in police possession to 71 201.

Setati refused to disclose where most of the firearms came from, saying "each province is unique and the conditions prevailing in KwaZulu-Natal may not be the same as in the Free State, for example, so it would be very unfair."

Victory

He said 2 885 firearms had been confiscated in KwaZulu-Natal. A further 3 822 illegal firearms were surrendered and 4 603 legally owned firearms were handed in since January.

"The collection of one firearm is a victory, not only to the community but to the country because that firearm will never again be used in the commission of any crime because it is out of circulation," said Setati.

He said the amnesty also extended to ammunition and nationally 149 591 rounds of ammunition had been confiscated, 439 734 illegal rounds were handed over to police and 633 690 legal rounds had been handed in.

In KwaZulu-Natal 78 441 rounds of legal ammunition were handed in, 55 103 were surrendered to the police and 27 978 were confiscated throughout the province.

Setati warned that those found in possession of illegal firearms or ammunition after the amnesty could face up to 25 years in jail.

- SAPA