PRESS RELEASE BY
L D CHURR
Gun Free South Africa “FIREARMS CONTROL BRIEFING ASSESSING THE FUNCTIONING OF THE CENTRAL FIREARMS REGISTRY” policy guiding document, submitted and presented to the Police Parliament Portfolio Committee on 3 June 2015 reads more like a press release. GFSA “press release” is supposed to be a Policy Guiding Document, intended to assist the Parliament Portfolio Committee in making informed policy decisions. Regrettably GFSA document reads more like a propaganda leaflet. Apart from GFSA leaflet dealing with a number of issues on a purely emotional basis, the facts and statistics presented in the report are vague, incomprehensible and contradictory in nature. My press release deals briefly with just two of at least seven issues of contention.
- GFSA “press release” presented to Parliament Portfolio Committee on 3 June 2015 states that:- “In Early 2012 several of the Level 1 Trauma Hospitals in South Africa began to record an increase in patients presenting with gunshot injuries.”
It is impossible to verify this new GFSA “factoid” presented to the Parliament Portfolio Committee, as the research referenced in the GFSA report has not been published. However, GFSA other committed and dedicated board members own previously published research contradicts this new emotional claim (factoid?) now submitted to Parliament. As GFSA previously published research contradicts this new “factoid” presented to the Police Portfolio Committee on 3 June 2015, I am compelled to ask:- Is it possible that GFSA have they forgotten their own previously published research in this regard? Or is it a case of selective memory and/or collective memory loss by GFSA?
- GFSA further uses outdated 1998 data in their report to state that “For example, the data showed that in 1998, 85 per cent of all robberies in South Africa were committed with a handgun.”
Statistics SA being more up-to-date with 2011 statistics, report that there were an estimated 730,000 households in South Africa experienced housebreaking/burglary in 2011 and a further 200,000 households were victims of home robbery, making these crimes the most prevalent household crimes. Among the victims who needed medical attention and were admitted to hospital after a home robbery, a knife was used in about 60% of the cases, compared to 41% for guns. However when the victim did require medical attention, but was not admitted to hospital, a knife was used in 71,3% of the cases compared to 33,7% where perpetrators used a gun. In instances where a gun was used and victims neither required medical attention nor were admitted to hospital about 66% accounted for gun and 30% for knife use.
Source: Statistics SA Report No. 03-40-02 (2010–2011)
Signed by : Pali Lehohla Statistician-General
Crime Statistics Series Volume I
Exploration of the extent and circumstances surrounding
housebreaking/burglary and home robbery
In-depth analysis of the Victims of Crime Survey data 2010-2011
