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Last week, 10 members of one family were shot dead in their home in Imbali, Pietermaritzburg, as they were whiling away the evening. A few days earlier, four men had been killed in KwaMashu, Durban, while having a couple of drinks.
Two months ago, gunmen walked into a house where a party was being held in KwaZakhele, Gqeberha, and opened fire. Four people died and several others were injured. This followed a similar situation in the same township a month earlier, when 11 were killed.
This is just this year. Last year witnessed a string of mass shootings at taverns around the country, with the worst being the one that claimed 16 lives in Soweto. For the past few years, Cape Town’s townships have been the site of weekend massacres that took the lives of dozens of people.
This has been a sobering experience for us South Africans who are so used to seeing senseless killings taking place in that gun-crazy place called the United States of America.
READ: Pietermaritzburg mass shooting suspect killed in gun battle with police - Cele
We can comfort ourselves with the fact that our killings are not random, but are linked to feuds, rackets and gang rivalries. It somehow makes us feel better that our shootings are not done by disturbed individuals who walk into schools, churches, nightclubs and supermarkets and randomly shoot children and adults they have no grudge against.
The idea that at least our gun massacres have a rational basis is the reason for the complacency around gun control in this country. We do not want to admit that we have a gun problem.
It has also become adept at inserting the protection of gun ownership and fighting off stricter firearm regulations by forcing it on to the agendas within some opposition parties.
What they conveniently ignore is that most of the guns that are in the hands of the criminal element originate from legal gun owners who lose them through negligence or robberies that they couldn’t even use the guns to defend themselves from.
What this then says is that South Africa’s civilian population is playing a big role in arming the criminals who terrorise us. In short, when you buy a gun, you are contributing to the criminals’ potential arsenal.
There is, of course, the phenomenon of guns smuggled into the country through international syndicates – particularly the high-calibre variety – and those lost by police officers end up in the criminals’ arsenal.
READ: Pietermaritzburg mass shooting: Special police unit investigating murders of 10 family members
But a huge chunk comes from the licensed gun owners who want to make it even easier for them to own guns, with much reduced accountability. The gun lobby was even resisting the need for regular licence renewal, taking the matter all the way to the highest courts. When they lost the case, there were about 450 000 gun licences that had not been renewed, meaning they were technically illegal. The department of police then declared a six-month amnesty period for these gun-owners to regularise their gun ownership. By the end of the amnesty period, only 80 000 had taken up the offer. This indicates the sense of impunity and carelessness among individuals.
According to Gun Free SA, about 8 900 guns were stolen last year, most probably never to be tracked down until the thieves who have them use them to commit crimes. Yet we continue to have this lax attitude towards our gun problem.
South Africa has myriad urgent challenges, with violent crime ranking as one of the major ones. It is an impediment to investment and economic growth, a driver of skills loss, a burden on the health system, a disincentive to tourists and a great cause of everyday pain and anxiety.
Guns are central to this scourge. It is obvious that dealing with the prevalence of legal and illegal guns should be central in the search for a solution. Reducing the number of legal guns would be a big first step.
Should we not be having a conversation about whether, in a violent society like ours, civilians should be owning guns at all? As we head towards an election campaign, shouldn’t one of the major parties put out the proposition that we start working towards a society where only the armed forces and licensed security companies are permitted to own firearms?
Gun fanatics love to argue that it is people, not guns, that kill. But as Gun Free SA said in the wake of recent mass shootings: “A gun massacre cannot happen without guns. The increasing flood of guns and ammunition into our society means more gun violence, including gun massacres. Currently, 30 people are shot and killed every day in South Africa.”
This is a chilling message and a clarion call.
