Some 32,169 guns are no longer in circulation thanks to the joint efforts of South Africa’s police and citizens during the nationwide Firearms amnesty, which ended on 11 April. Of the total guns recovered, 53% were voluntary surrendered and 21% were confiscated by police in roadblock, search and seizure operations. 27% of the weapons were illegal. All firearms handed in will be tested to determine if they were used in any form of crime.

South Africa’s Minister of Police said that it was encouraging to see that the majority of firearms surrendered during the amnesty were from licenced owners who chose to voluntarily surrender their weapons and ammunition. And 348,083 rounds of ammunition were recovered. 52% were voluntary surrendered, 24%were illegal ammunition surrendered and 24% confiscated.

The amnesty also gave gun owners who had not relicenced their weapons under the Firearms Control Act (2000), the chance to do it in this period. Almost 2,500 firearms owners obtained their new licence.

Under the theme ‘Together we can do more against crime Awulethe Umshini Wakho – Surrender your Firearm’, the amnesty was a call to citizens to work with the government to combat armed crime. Monitoring teams formed by civil society organisations and civilian groups assessed more than 240 police stations nationwide. Monitoring teams made unannounced visits to police stations and any problem identified was immediately addressed.

Pamela Crowsley from Gun-Free South Africa said: “we are very happy with the amount of firearms that were retrieved and also with the processes that the amnesty triggered. Police have been actively working with local organisations, creating better communication and a sense of trust. The public learnt about the firearms law and lots of public discussions about the dangers of gun ownership were held. This amnesty has shown how important it is to engage entire communities in arms reduction strategies. Now that the amnesty is over the firearms collected will be destroyed within the next six months and will clear the way to making the 2010 World Cup a safer place for our guests from overseas as well as our local communities.”