The South African Police Service (SAPS) have reported that 3,856 firearms were lost, stolen or misplaced between May 2006 and 2007. This is a 68% increase in lost or stolen weapons since 2005/6 and a five-fold increase since police began reporting missing firearms in 2002.

However, Guy Lamb from the Institute of Security Studies in Pretoria said that these increases did not necessarily mean that police stockpile security or officer corruption was worsening.

He commented: “Although theft of firearms from police arsenals is a serious problem in South Africa, these figures also show there has been a marked improvement in police record-keeping of firearms. It does not necessarily mean greater police negligence. Some of the losses recorded for 2006 - 07 may include losses from previous years which hadn’t been recorded at the time. There are many thousands of firearms in police stocks and SAPS still lack the resources to account for them properly.”

The increase in missing police firearms contrasts with a reduction in firearm thefts from private individuals in recent years in South Africa.

South African police have been required to submit records of their firearm stocks since the Firearms Control Act (FCA) came into effect in 2004. The FCA requires police officers to carry a renewable firearm permit and for SAPS to annually audit their weapon stockpiles.

There have been teething problems with the audit however. In the 2004 - 05 report, the auditor general commented that significant numbers of firearms and ammunitions were not returned when officials employment was terminated. In 2007 the police admitted that the register of lost and stolen firearms had not been properly maintained in six provinces, which accounts for two thirds of the country.

Joseph Dube, IANSA Africa Coordinator said: “This raises great concern in a society where gun violence is extremely high. The loss of one firearm alone can cause colossal damage. However, IANSA welcomes the progress made on police auditing, both at the internal and external level. We call for the police to excercise greater care with their firearms, whether they are being carried on duty, stored off duty, or in their stations’ stockpiles.”