Murder statistics confirm government’s motives for stricter firearm control are ideologically driven

Soundbite: Jacques Broodryk (English)

Soundbite: Jacques Broodryk (Afrikaans)

Firoz Cachalia, Acting Minister of Police, confirmed in response to a parliamentary question that the vast majority of firearm-related murders in the country are committed using unlicensed firearms. AfriForum maintains that these facts once again confirm that the government’s approach of pushing for even stricter legislation to impose harsher firearm controls on law-abiding firearm owners is ideologically driven and cannot be justified based on the facts.

In response to a question from Wouter Wessels, an MP for the FF Plus, Cachalia stated that 9 398 people were murdered with firearms during the 2025/2026 financial year. Only 75 of these murders – or 0,8% – were committed by the legal owner of a lawfully licensed firearm, whereas illegal firearms were used in 9 323 (or 99,2%) of all firearm-related murders during the same period.

According to Cachalia’s response, illegal firearms were used in 98,88% of firearm-related murders in 2022/2023, 99,19% of such murders in 2023/2024, and 98,98% of firearm-related murders in 2024/2025.

According to Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s Chief Spokesperson for Community Safety, these figures irrefutably demonstrate that the crisis regarding murders committed with firearms is fuelled by illegal firearm possession. Despite this fact, legal firearm owners continue to be targeted through stricter legislation.

“The figures refute the argument that stricter restrictions on law-abiding firearm owners are the answer to the country’s violent crime,” explains Broodryk. “If the government truly wishes to combat violent crime and save lives, priority should be given to tackling illegal firearm possession, organised crime, firearm smuggling, firearm theft, and corruption within the public service. The goals of combating crime will not be achieved by imposing further regulatory burdens on responsible citizens who already comply with stringent competency and licensing requirements.”

Moreover, the figures provided by Cachalia confirm that firearms originally belonging to the South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African National Defense Force (SANDF), and the Metro Police were used in 46 murders during the 2025/2026 financial year.

According to Broodryk, the data indicates a serious failure by the state to secure its firearms while simultaneously attempting to further curtail the rights of law-abiding citizens.

For the past 18 months, AfriForum has been warning that the government’s proposed amendments to the Firearms Control Act are aimed at disarming legal firearm owners and, in doing so, ignore the actual causes of firearm violence.

“Disarming responsible citizens will not disarm criminals. It will merely leave law-abiding citizens more vulnerable, while violent criminals continue to have free access to illegal firearms,” adds Broodryk.

AfriForum therefore calls on the government to abandon its ideologically motivated approach to firearm control and instead focus its resources on:

securing firearm stockpiles held by the SAPS, SANDF, and the Metro Police;
rooting out corruption within the SAPS and other state institutions;
dismantling syndicates that trade in illegal firearms;
strengthening the police’s investigative and forensic capabilities; and
the effective arrest, prosecution, and sentencing of violent criminals.

“The country and its people deserve a firearm policy driven not by ideology, but by facts. The latest parliamentary figures make it crystal clear – the problem is not law-abiding firearm owners. The problem is violent criminals with illegal firearms, and the state’s persistent inability to stop them,” concludes Broodryk.