Firearms are the leading cause of violent death in South Africa with approximately 48% of the total 18 545 murders in South Africa being firearm related as well as 80% of attempted murders.

Violence in South Africa cannot be separated from the ready availability of guns and our propensity for using them. South Africa can be made safer by linking government and civil society efforts in areas of effective policing and management of firearms, challenging the culture of gun ownership and creating gun free zones.

Big Idea 1: Establish a Civil Society organisation that will have ongoing engagement with relevant government and non-government structures with a view to monitoring implementation of the law and procedures, determine gaps and areas for intervention and ensure that women's voices are heard.

Big Idea 2: Organise ongoing civil society engagement with the purpose of increasing Gun Free Zones and providing alternatives for personalised protection.

The use of guns in crime and the misuse of guns within inter-personal relations is a global crisis that results in the loss of millions of lives annually. Globally, firearms are estimated to be involved in more than half of all conflict deaths, 40% of all homicides and 6% of all suicides.  Firearms are also a leading cause of fatal injuries in post war countries and countries affected by acute urban armed violence. Similar to other countries emerging from war and violent conflict or embarking on a process of democratisation, South Africa experienced a dramatic increase in violent crime during its political transition. "Although civilians are increasingly involved in or are victims of violent conflict, ironically, the cessation of hostilities can result in civilians facing greater risk of violent death or serious injury after the end of the conflict than during it."    

Indeed, in "the aftermath of virtually all civil wars in the 1980s and 1990s, civilians perceived greater insecurity, often as a result of documented increases in violent crime."   Between 1994 and 1999, violent crime in South Africa (murder, attempted murder, rape, robbery and assault) increased consistently by 22%.  Multiple factors have contributed to these high levels of violent crime, including the social tensions generated by the transition from an authoritarian regime to a democracy, a culture of violence, inequality and the increasing wealth gap, and the proliferation of firearms.

Guns and Crime in South Africa
In 1994, of the 26 832 murders in South Africa, 11 134 were committed with firearms: that translates into 28.8 firearm homicides per 100 000.  In 1995 murders peaked at 26 877 staying at this level for several years, with a 10% drop in 1999. Although there has been a gradual stabilisation and downward trend in most violent crime categories since 2000, with a significant decrease of more than 23% for murders since 1994, South Africa's homicide rates remain high with over 50 murders a day.  However, despite this decrease in murders, the percentage of people killed by firearms increased from 41% of all murders in 1994 to 49.3% in 2000.

Since 2000, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has not released a breakdown of murder by weapon type and this makes it difficult to develop an accurate trend analysis regarding the use of firearms in homicides. However, other sources of data, notably the annual mortuary based mortality data gathered and analysed by the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System (NIMSS), shows very encouraging signs of a significant decrease in firearm homicide in several cities across the country, especially in Cape Town.

For example, between 2001 and 2004, the firearm homicide rate almost halved in the Cape Town Metropolitan area, decreasing from 34.1 per 100 000 firearm deaths in 2001 to 18.7 per 100 000 in 2004.  This trend is not consistent across all cities. For example, the fatal injury profile for the Durban Metropolitan area shows a very marginal decrease in firearm homicides over the same four year period, decreasing from 38.2 per 100 000 in 2001 to only 29.9 per 100 000 in 2004.  

Despite the positive changes in some cities, firearms remain the leading external cause of death in South Africa

Guns and Crime

• Firearms are the leading cause of violent death in South Africa.
• Approximately 48% of the total 18 545 murders in South Africa are firearm related.
• 20 553 attempted murders in which approximately 80% involved a gun being used.
• 119 726 robberies with aggravating circumstances in which approx. 80% involved a gun being used.
• Young men between the age of 20-34 years are most at risk for being killed with a gun
• The ratio of firearm related death for men and women is 8:1.
• South Africans are six times more likely to be victims of fatal violence than anywhere else in the reported world.
• There are 3.7 million licensed guns in the hands of civilians while the police and the army have 567 000 firearms. South African civilians have more than six times as many firearms as those held by the police and army
• Every day 66 guns are lost or stolen.