The proliferation of illegal weapons and failure to keep violent criminals locked up will draw more tragic massacres. (Getty Images)
From 2005 to 2010, the government retrieved 42 329 guns and 450 389 rounds of ammunition as part of an amnesty to eradicate the dangerous weapons from society.
The amnesty was in line with the Firearms Control Act, promulgated in 2000 by then president Thabo Mbeki.
A cursory look at the country’s murder rate shows that, in the period covering the arms amnesty, the murder rate dropped from a steep 38 killings per 100 000 people to an all-time low — in the democratic era — of 29.8 deaths per 100 000.
As of November last year, 13 years since the end of the first amnesty and two years after the paltry six-month reprieve of illegal firearms parliament approved in January 2021, the murder rates have soared to 45.33 per 100 000 people, the fourth-highest death rates in the world, as recorded by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
It is apparent that there is a correlation between the proliferation of dangerous weapons and soaring death figures.
This brings us to the 27 September killing of 18 members of a family in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape, one of four of the country’s most violent provinces.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu — in the days after the attack, during those inevitable political posturing visits to an affected area, where nothing but platitudes of “we’re shocked, never again” are uttered — detailed how the assailants “took their time” in committing the murders, using several illegal weapons.
With it being obvious that the government has failed to stem the flow of illegal firearms, it emerged on Wednesday that one of the alleged killers, who was arrested this week, had previous convictions for escaping custody and murder, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) stated.
“He is currently out on parole,” the NPA said, adding that it would oppose bail, with no sense of irony of why a violent criminal was out in the first place.
What is evident is that when the state was proactive in reducing the spread of guns, there was a notable decrease in murder rates.
But, for as long as the government remains lethargic in both stemming dangerous weapons and ensuring violent criminals remain locked up, the Lusikisiki massacre and others like it will remain a feature of South African life.