Less than 20% of lost or stolen police firearms are recovered in South Africa

Over 3,400 police firearms have been lost or stolen over the past five years in South Africa. However, only 559 of these have been recovered, which is less than one in five.

Chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, shared this information based on replies to the DA’s parliamentary questions.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s Acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, revealed in November that the figure had exceeded 4,000 since 2020. This indicates a recovery rate of less than 14%.

According to Cameron, many these police firearms are now being used to commit violent crimes, including robbery, assault and murder.

“Most losses occurred through robbery and theft, not mere negligence, showing the scale of criminal activity targeting the police themselves,” he said.

“This exposes a serious failure in SAPS’ management of firearms. The problem is not law-abiding citizens but mismanagement, corruption, and the collapse of the Central Firearms Register.”

In early 2024, the Minister of Police revealed that 1,725 firearms issued to SAPS officers had been lost or stolen between April 2021 and July 2023.

At the end of 2024, the late Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime researcher Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane stated that research revealed the loss of 18,000 firearms between 2003 and 2013.

Similarly, the City Press reported that between 2005 and 2017, 26,025 firearms issued to police officers had been lost or stolen.

However, according to Irish-Qhobosheane, the overall figure for firearms the government has lost or had stolen is significantly higher, as only the police report their firearms losses to the Central Firearms Registry.

She said that entities like the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) are supposed to, but do not.

These figures only tend to come to light when Minis ters are questioned in Parliament. For instance, the former Minister of Defence and Military Veterans revealed that the SANDF had 42 firearms stolen between 2019 and 2023.

She also said that 3,000 rounds of assault rifle ammunition and another 3,000 rounds of handgun ammunition were also stolen during the period.

Police negligence costing taxpayers hundreds of millions

In addition to failing to properly manage firearms, suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu also recently revealed that poorly trained police officers have cost South African taxpayers millions due to misconduct.

However, civilians have made claims against the South African Police Service (SAPS) amounting to significantly more for wrongful arrests, detentions, and shooting incidents.

These claims amounted to over R15 billion in the 2023/24 financial year alone.

Mchunu stated that the police had received 15,067 claims of police misconduct involving the arrest and detention of individuals, totalling R14.8 billion.

Of these claims, the state has paid out R445.4 million through court orders and R20.7 million through settlements, totalling over R466 million. However, this accounts for only 3% of claims made against the SAPS.

SAPS also received 180 claims regarding cases of misconduct related to shooting incidents, which totalled R742 million.

Similar to cases involving arrests and detention, less than 10% of these claims were paid out, with the state paying R57.8 million to claimants via court order and R4.6 million through settlements.

Mchunu added that the department is conducting several initiatives to prevent unlawful arrests made by the SAPS, including establishing national and provincial steering committees to manage civil claims.

This would aim to change the mindset of SAPS employees regarding their “attitudes and behaviours” to prevent unlawful actions.

“The national steering committee has developed and is implementing an internal communication plan, which regularly sensitises members on the root causes of civil claims and the actions that are required to prevent them from occurring,” he said in his response.

The Minister added that his department has identified the issue of civil claims as a risk, requiring specific action to mitigate this risk.

These include conducting regular workshops and training on legal prescriptions and mandates to guide proactive and preventative measures.