In a Twitter post by the Police Minister, Bheki Cele, he says it has been quite a while since the police destroyed firearms. 

Gun issues have caused quite a stir in the country as a result of the killing of prominent and ordinary South Africans, including Reeva Steenkamp and Senzo Meyiwa, and this led to different organisations calling for a gun law to be passed with the hopes of preventing more deaths at the hands of criminals with guns. 

Cele says a large number of illegal firearms destroyed today were seized through efforts by the South African Police Services (SAPS) through planned operations.

A 2018 research report carried out by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, places South Africa in a twelfth position out of 20 countries included in the study. South Africa and Ethiopia - placed 13th - are the only other African countries ranked in the top 20.

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