Eight out of every 10 applications for a firearm licence made by a black South African is turned down, according to the Black Gun Owners Association.
Abios Khoele, chairperson of the one-year-old association, told the Mail & Guardian that the granting of licences is “like a competition” for applicants who feel that they are taking part in a random selection process.
He said that since the beginning of last year, 80 000 of his 150 000 members had applied for licences, yet only 15% have been granted. He said that more than 15 000 of the association’s members gathered at Alexandra stadium last Sunday before marching to Gallo Manor police station in protest against the alleged practice of racial discrimination in the issuing of firearm licences.
They handed over a memorandum addressed to Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula, in which they allege that director Jaco Bothma, head of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Central Firearms Control Register, is racist. “He is a white man who controls firearm licences over blacks, where 80% of black firearm licences are refused.”
Khoele told the M&G that he has 60 000 letters of refusal to black applicants, all on a standard form stating merely that the applicants did not provide sufficient motivation for wanting to own a gun.
The association has challenged the minister to provide statistics showing how many applications by black people have been turned down in the past two years.
Senior Superintendent Andrew Lesch said although they are aware of the allegations against Bothma, the SAPS is “not willing to entertain these false and unsubstantiated claims in the media”. Lesch denied that 80% of black applications are refused.
Overall, 24% of all applications for firearm licences last year were refused, he said. He said that applicants are informed in a standardised letter and “adequate reason is supplied”.
“Applications for firearm licences are not recorded or processed in terms of race or gender,” he added.