Dead owners, deadly guns: 36 000 lost firearms flooding Western Cape streets

Police

Cape Town – Illegal firearms remain a major driver of violent crime in the Western Cape, with police warning that weapons are entering communities through multiple channels, including unreturned licensed guns, cross-border smuggling and organised criminal networks.

According to Western Cape provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile, a significant number of illegal firearms originate from licensed weapons that were never handed back to the state after the owners died.

Patekile said thousands of firearms are effectively unaccounted for.

“There are more than 36 000 people in the Western Cape who died while owning licensed firearms, and nobody has applied for those firearms to be licensed or returned to the police,” Patekile said, adding that many of these guns eventually “find their way into criminal hands”.

As stated by the commissioner during a provincial crime briefing, police are working to trace these weapons and encourage families to either regularise ownership or surrender the firearms.

He stressed that the failure to do so directly contributes to gun violence.

Patekile further warned that not all illegal firearms originate within South Africa.

According to IOL, police have recovered high-powered weapons, including firearms not legally available in the country, suggesting cross-border trafficking routes.

“I will not leave out the issue of Namibia,” he said. “More than 100 state-owned firearms have been found here in Cape Town alone, and some of them are very new, which means there is a route that we must look at.”

Western Cape MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety Anroux Marais echoed these concerns, saying firearms remain the leading weapon used in murders across the province.

Marais said police recorded a notable increase in cases of illegal possession of firearms during the latest reporting period.

“Illegal firearms are a major contributor to murder in the Western Cape,” Marais said. “Firearms remain the most commonly used instrument in killings.”

Gideon Joubert from the South African Gun Owners’ Association says South Africa is facing a severe imbalance between legal and illegal firearms, estimating that there are about three million legally owned firearms compared to between three and six million unlicensed guns in civilian hands.

According to Joubert, data from the Global Small Arms Survey indicates that more than 50% of firearms in South Africa are held illegally, a situation he says is directly contributing to the country’s high murder rate of approximately 45 per 100,000 people.

In the attached interview clip, Joubert highlights that unaccounted state-owned firearms are a major concern, stating that out of an estimated 2.2 million state firearms, about 70% are no longer under effective police oversight.He further says cross-border smuggling remains a significant source of illicit weapons entering the country, adding that porous borders continue to fuel the illegal gun trade.”

Crime analysts have long warned that lost or stolen firearms from legal owners form one of the largest sources of illegal guns in South Africa. As reported by DefenceWeb, researchers estimate that thousands of civilian firearms are lost or stolen annually, many of which later surface in violent crimes.

Police have urged the public to cooperate by reporting unlicensed firearms and ensuring that weapons belonging to deceased relatives are surrendered. Patekile said removing guns from circulation remains one of the most effective ways to reduce violent crime.

“We need communities to work with us,” he said. “Every illegal firearm taken off the street is a life potentially saved.”

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Compiled by Lisabeal Nqamqhele

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