In the past five years, SAPS has confiscated 21,702 illegal firearms. 6,853 confiscated guns were involved in murder cases. Many more confiscated firearms may have been involved in murders, but not yet linked to specific cases.
The Western Cape had the highest number of confiscated firearms, and KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng ranked second and third.
According to Dr Guy Lamb, a political conflict lecturer at Stellenbosch University, the vast majority of illegal firearms circulating in South Africa are sourced from within the country.
Lost and stolen handguns, mainly pistols and revolvers, make up the majority of guns on the illegal market.
“They’ve been lost or stolen from licensed firearm owners, and they’re probably the greatest source of illegal weapons,” Lamb said. “Every year, there are anywhere between 6,000 and 8,000 civilian firearms that are legally held that are lost or stolen.”
Also, about 1,800 firearms are lost and stolen from police, military, or other state entities. In 2016, former Gauteng police colonel Christiaan Prinsloo confessed to selling thousands of firearms to Cape Flats gangs, including some semi-automatic and automatic weapons.
Last year, GroundUp reported on inconsistencies in the record-keeping of lost and stolen state-owned firearms.
Lamb said that criminal groups might also establish private security firms as a means to access firearms.
Some weapons flow into South Africa from neighbouring countries. In late August, nine people appeared in a Windhoek court for stealing firearms, including AK-47s, from a Namibian military armoury and attempting to smuggle them into South Africa.
According to a report by Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, one of the ways these weapons are smuggled is through trucks carrying fresh goods, such as flowers or fruit.
More than 40% of murders in South Africa are carried out with firearms. According to Gun Free South Africa, a non-profit organisation, 33 people are murdered with guns in the country daily on average.
To address the illegal firearm market, Lamb said there needs to be targeted policing operations to confiscate firearms and measures in place to reduce their loss or theft. For example, in the past, SAPS has held firearm amnesties, where people can surrender illegal or unwanted guns without fear of prosecution.
He also said there can be better security for SAPS 13 stores, the rooms where confiscated weaponry is held in police stations. Gun Free South Africa has called for tighter control over licensed firearms held by state and civilian users and proper stockpile management with regular audits.
Chart produced by The Outlier in partnership with GroundUp.
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