With 90% of firearm homicides globally committed by men, efforts to reduce gun violence must address masculinities and provide alternatives for frustrated young men living in chronic vulnerability with easy access to guns.
As Parliament prepares to debate the latest crime statistics on 26 February 2025, three key elements — identity, intent, and instrument — stand out as the primary drivers of the country’s alarmingly high levels of violent crime. Understanding these elements is crucial for the reduction of gun violence in South Africa.
Identity: A deadly dynamic
South Africa’s crime statistics — both those currently being discussed in Parliament and previous stats — reveal a disturbing truth: violence is highly gendered.
Men are most often both victims and perpetrators of murder and violent assaults. Women too face high levels of vulnerabilities to violence perpetrated by men, particularly sexual and intimate partner violence, including killings.
Many murders occur between people who know each other — intimate partners, relatives, colleagues, associates, or friends. This pattern raises uncomfortable questions: why are homes, typically seen as safe spaces, crime scenes? Why is masculinity so closely linked to violence, including gun violence?
Research indicates that 90% of firearm homicides globally are committed by men, highlighting their significant role in armed violence. To reduce gun violence, efforts must address masculinities and provide alternatives for frustrated young men living in chronic vulnerability with easy access to firearms and ammunition.
Intent: Conflict and consequence
Most murders in South Africa are not premeditated acts linked to robberies, gang violence or organised crime. Instead, they arise from interpersonal conflicts — arguments, misunderstandings, jealousy or revenge between people known to one another.
These are not issues that can be solved by simply deploying more police officers. We need long-term solutions that build emotional resilience, promote conflict resolution and foster healthier relationships at the individual, family and community levels.
Instrument: Firearms as the enabler of death
While identity and intent lay the groundwork for violence, the choice of weapon determines its outcome. Firearms are the primary instrument of death in South Africa, with 42% of murders and 58% of attempted murders in October-December 2024 involving firearms.
Guns are designed to kill, so the easy availability of guns transforms conflicts into deaths or critical injuries. The greater the availability of firearms — legal or illegal — the higher the likelihood they will be used to kill, maim or threaten people.
South Africa’s experience shows that reducing gun availability saves lives. When South Africa implemented the Firearms Control Act (FCA) in 2000, gun deaths dropped dramatically from 34 per day in 1998 to 18 per day by 2009. However, corruption, poor oversight and loopholes in the law have led to a resurgence in gun violence.
Closing the tap: Practical solutions
To build a safer South Africa, government must prioritise addressing gun crime and violence. The most effective way to do this is to focus on three key areas:
- Reducing the circulation of guns
South Africa has one of the highest murder rates globally, with firearms used in more than 40% of homicides. Sometimes legal guns are used: for example, SA research shows that women are most at risk of being killed with a licensed gun owned by an intimate partner.
Very often the gun is illegal. However, most illegal firearms come from legal sources, leaking into the criminal market through theft, loss or corruption. Government’s priority must be to recover illegal guns and guns that are being used illegally – for example, to threaten and intimidate, or which are not stored legally.
The fact that arrest rates for illegal gun possession have remained stagnant at around 4,100 is particularly concerning. Given government’s repeated assurances about prioritising gun-related crimes, we would expect a significant increase in these arrests.
While we welcome the recent destruction of more than 16,000 guns, and Minister Senzo Mchunu’s commitment to six-monthly gun destructions to help stop recovered guns from leaking back into communities, much more needs to be done to reduce the availability of guns in our communities, including using crime-intelligence specialist firearms units to recover firearms.
- Enforcing the Firearms Control Act
The FCA provides the police with significant powers, but weak enforcement has contributed to an increase in gun deaths. To improve enforcement, the Central Firearms Registry must be fixed to ensure that SAPS has an accurate central firearm record-keeping system, a cornerstone of effective and efficient firearms control.
Furthermore, SAPS must ensure firearms are removed in domestic violence cases and that penalties for illegal firearm possession are strictly enforced.
- Tabling the Firearms Control Amendment Bill
The Firearms Control Amendment Bill, published for public comment in 2021, must be tabled in Parliament for further public comment. The Amendment Bill seeks to strengthen current loopholes, including by limiting ammunition and the types of firearms that can be licensed and raising the bar for those with a history of violence.
The principle is simple: fewer guns, fewer gun deaths.
A call to action
As Parliament debates crime statistics, policymakers must focus on the instrument: guns are driving violence in South Africa. President Ramaphosa himself acknowledged the urgency of acting in his 2025 State of the Nation address:
“We must tackle the scourge of gun violence that has plagued our society for decades. I have asked the Minister and the National Commissioner of Police to prioritise reducing gun-related crime and violence. This includes preventing the diversion of firearms into the illicit market and recovering illegal firearms in circulation. We know from international evidence and our own experience that this is the most effective way to reduce overall violent crime.”
The President’s commitment aligns with what evidence has consistently shown: fewer guns mean fewer gun deaths. But this is not just government’s fight. Civil society, faith-based organisations, educators and community leaders must unite to promote peace and accountability.
By closing the tap on gun availability, as the President has directed, we can create a safer South Africa. The time to act is now — lives depend on it. DM