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A
fan cries while holding a portrait of slain Bafana-Bafana and Orlando Pirates
captain Senzo Meyiwa during a memorial service in Johannesburg on October 30,
2014 ©Marco Longari (AFP)
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It's a call normally
heard in countries emerging from civil war: hand over your illegal weapons in
exchange for amnesty.
Instead it comes from
South Africa's football association after the captain of the national team was
shot dead in a botched robbery.
The plan? To use the guns
to build a monument in honour of 27-year-old Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Senzo
Meyiwa, whose death sparked an outpouring of grief in a crime-ridden nation.
The monument would be
placed in front of the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, where the opening match of
the 2010 FIFA World Cup was played four years ago.
“The more guns we
receive, the bigger the statue,” said South African Football Association (SAFA)
spokesman Dominic Chimhavi.
The details still need to
be worked out with the police and justice ministries to determine just where,
when and how the guns will be collected –- and to secure a guarantee of no
arrests, no questions asked.
"If you ask
questions, people will be afraid," explained Chimhavi.
But, he continued,
"We lost one of our heroes, our captain, our goalkeeper, you understand?
This death has really affected the country. Don't forget... the Orlando Pirates
(Meyiwa's club) are the Liverpool and the Manchester United of South
Africa."
Thousands attended
Meyiwa's funeral last week, while the Pirates announced the number one jersey
would be retired in honour of their star player.
"We have received
massive feedback from the public to say, 'we need to remove these illegal guns
from the streets... we want to surrender these guns... but we want an
amnesty."
“The mood is right, the
public pressure is right, and with SAFA pushing this forward, there is a high
probability this could happen,” said Claire Taylor of Gun Free SA, a local NGO
lobbying for stricter gun control.
- 'Criminals issued legal guns' -
South Africa has already
had three collections of illegal weapons, the first a few months after its
first democratic elections in 1994 and then again in 2005 and 2010.
Despite this – and the
strict laws already in place – the problem of gun violence remains.
The high number of
legally-held weapons in a population afraid of crime ironically means that many
are stolen and fall into the hands of criminals.
Taylor pleads for fewer
licences: “We need to make sure that only responsible people are granted
licences and that they don't leave their guns lying around.”
She also pointed to
corruption and fraud in the firearm licensing process.
“Criminals are being
issued with legal guns,” she said.
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A
police van patrols in front of the house where Orlando Pirates and Bafana
Bafana goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa was murdered October 27, 2014 in Johannesburg
©Mujahid Safodien (AFP)
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Gun numbers are hard to
come by in South Africa, with police refusing to supply official figures, but
Gun Free SA points to a 2011 affidavit that listed 3.2 million guns for 1.8
million licensed gun owners.
But for illegal weapons,
the numbers are much more vague, ranging between 400 000 and four million.
The sheer prevalence of
weapons contributes to a high homicide rate in a country already riddled with
endemic violence. In 2013/2014, South Africa averaged 47 murders per day in a
population of 53 million.
SAFA's call could be the
catalyst for the government to take action.
In the wake of Meyiwa's
murder, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe welcomed a debate over the
availability of weapons. It was time for South Africans to decide, he said,
“whether we are hell-bent on self-destruction or peaceful co-existence”.
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Fans
hold posters as South Africans gather at the Moses Mabhida stadium to pay their
final respects to South African team captain and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper
Senzo Meyiwa, during his funeral in Durban, on November 1, 2014 ©Rajesh
Jantilal (AFP)
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Even the elite are not
immune. A week before Meyiwa was killed, ruling African National Congress
secretary-general Jackson Mthembu was shot in the face while withdrawing money
from an ATM. He spent ten days in hospital.
Plans for a new weapons
amnesty were welcomed by Natalie Jaynes of Open Society, an NGO.
“With each amnesty
weapons did come in and it's a good thing. Of course they could be more
successful but it's a low cost and relatively easy way to get guns out of the
wrong hands,” she said..
“During the last amnesty,
the minister of police actually convened a group of civilian monitors who would
then undertake all spot checks and monitor that weapons surrendered to the
police were properly recorded and submitted for destruction.
“Especially in South
Africa, where we have a problem with implementing the fire arms control
legislation, amnesty is very helpful.”
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