99% of firearm murders in South Africa committed with illegal guns

Wessels said the statistics provided by the Acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, clearly show South Africa’s firearm crime problem stems from unlicensed firearms in the hands of criminals, as 99% of murders were committed with illegal firearms.

Wouter Wessels, Freedom Front Plus (FF+) MP, national chair and chief police spokesperson, said parliamentary replies to questions from the FF+ regarding murders committed with legally licensed firearms versus illegal firearms over the past four years revealed that 41 297 murders were committed with illegal, unlicensed firearms in the past four financial years, from 2022-23 to 2025-26.8% were committed by the legal owner of a lawfully licensed firearm, whereas illegal firearms were used in 9 323 (or 99.