The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the Pretoria High Court’s ruling clarifying key sections in the Firearms Control Act.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) wrongly blocked firearm imports from dealers after misinterpreting the law. Its Central Firearms Registry (CFR) incorrectly decided that certain parts of handgun barrels were not considered part of the barrel and required serial numbers to be engraved in places, which is not standard practice. This misinterpretation is in direct contradiction to how the law had been applied for years.
The DA will submit parliamentary questions to the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, to find out how this happened and how much public money was wasted on unnecessary legal action.
These importers, who have been in the firearm business for decades, had their shipments blocked without clear reason. SAPS insisted that serial numbers be added to firearm barrels, even though this was not required by law or industry standards. When the importers tried to resolve the issue with SAPS, their efforts were ignored, leaving them no choice but to take the matter to court.
The DA believes those responsible for this mistake should be held accountable, not only for the incorrect application of the law but also for wasting taxpayers’ money. If SAPS had worked with these importers in good faith, this legal battle could have been avoided.
At a time when other areas of policing, such as crime intelligence and detective services, are underfunded, it’s unacceptable for public funds to be spent defending this mistake.