EMSIE FERREIRA, Cape Town | Friday
THE South African parliament has approved strict firearm controls which government says embodies South Africans’ indignation at rampant violent crime, but opposition says robs people of the right to self-defence.
“Many a farmer’s wife will die, pistol in hand, under a shower of automatic fire,” charged General Constand Viljoen, leader of the opposition Freedom Front, after the National Assembly passed the bill by 206 to 95 votes.
“The ANC will have blood on its hands.”
Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete told MPs it “sends a message that enough is enough.”
His belief that the number of firearms in circulation in South Africa – some four million licensed and 2.5 million illegal weapons – fuelled crime was backed up with figures by the ANC’s Jabu Sosibo.
She told fellow MPs guns were used in 41% of murders in 1994 and this had risen to 49% of the 24800 murders in 1998.
The bill, which was two years in the making, was met with fury from some opposition MPs who claimed that South Africans needed easier access to guns, and more powerful ones, to defend themselves against crime.
The bill raises the age for owning a firearm from 16 to 21 and restricts people to one gun only for self-defence.
It also bans private ownership of automatic weapons, forces gun owners to renew their licences every five years and imposes penalties of up to 25 years in jail for trading or owning illegal firearms.
The New National Party, which ruled under apartheid, said the country could not afford the estimated R1bn the bill would cost to implement, and that the police, overwhelmed by crime, would not be able to implement the stricter controls.
ANC MP Muleleki George said it was a victory for his party’s fight against crime but also admitted that the bill alone would not secure a safe society.
“No one piece of legislation will stop the violent crime in this country. It is not the solution to all our ills. We need a change of mindset.”
The bill still has to pass through parliament’s second house, the National Council of Provinces, next month.