Black gun owners disperse
2004-09-28 16:47
Pretoria - Hundreds of members of the Black Gun Owners Association (BGOA) have started dispersing from police headquarters in Pretoria, police said on Tuesday.
"There are still a lot of people standing around, but they are leaving," said Pretoria police spokesperson Anton Breedt.
He said the protesters agreed to move from the offices on Schoeman Street after talks with their leaders.
The protesters were waiting for transport to take them home, Breedt said.
Two lanes of Schoeman Street in central Pretoria were reopened to traffic on Tuesday afternoon after a crowd of people claiming to be gun owners threatened to blockade the road.
The group, marching under the banner of the BGOA, told police they would not move until they were given an audience with Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula on their firearm licensing grievances.
By 14:30, the protesters were still occupying the other two lanes in the street while police and association leaders negotiated the group's departure before afternoon peak traffic.
Water cannon
A police water cannon was brought to the scene.
Association chair Abious Khoele said: "We will stay here even if it takes three months."
Asked what would happen if the minister did not come, he told reporters: "After three months we will see what we can do."
About 2 500 protesters marched from the corner of Schubart and Skinner streets to police headquarters in Schoeman Street around noon.
They have been occupying the part of Schoeman Street between Andries and Paul Kruger streets since then.
The crowd, which included several children, has since shrunk to about 1 000.
Earlier the group refused to present a memorandum to a delegated police representative - Central Firearms Registry official Sam Lekgotla.
Khoele told Lekgotla: "We are not going anywhere. We want the minister. We will stay here until we get a proper response."
He said the group had previously forwarded three memoranda to Nqakula's office, with no response forthcoming.
The crowd jeered when told the minister was not available.
They carried placards reading "Nqakula give blacks their firearm licences", "Nqakula, who do you impose harsh penalties on blacks?" and "Stop making South Africa like Zimbabwe".
Illegal guns
In their memorandum the protesters said the new firearm law would force people to arm themselves with illegal guns to defend themselves and their families.
They claimed 99% of firearm licence applications were refused.
"Will the families be entitled to compensation when they (police) refuse a licence to a person who needs it and he or she is killed or injured?" the memorandum read.
The crowd claimed black people were not consulted when the new law was passed.
"Is it because these laws are aimed at disarming the black population, rendering us defenceless?"
- SAPA