Police minister: Nearly 11,000 people killed with illegal guns in single year

Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia told Parliament that thousands of people were murdered with unlicensed firearms across recent financial years, with the figure for one year reaching nearly 11,000.

Key figures released in written reply

Cachalia provided the numbers in a written parliamentary reply to a question from FF Plus MP W Wessels about murders involving legal and illegal firearms over four financial years.

Unlicensed firearms: According to Cachalia, 10 613 people were murdered using an unlicensed firearm during the 2022/2023 financial year. The minister said the number rose the following year:

“10 911 people killed using illegal firearms during 2023/2024.”

For the subsequent years he gave the following figures: “10 450 during the 2024/2025 financial year and 9 323 during the 2025/2026 financial year,” showing a decline in the two most recent years covered by his reply.

Partial figure for current financial year

Cachalia also supplied a partial count for the current financial year. He said:

“A total of 708 persons were murdered using an unlicensed firearm from 1 April 2026 until 30 April 2026,”

covering the single month for which data was available at the time of his response.

Murders involving legally owned firearms

The minister said murders linked to legally owned firearms were far lower across the same period. His figures were:

• 120 people murdered using a legal firearm in the hands of a licensed owner during 2022/2023;
• 90 during 2023/2024;
• 108 during 2024/2025; and
• 75 during 2025/2026.

For the period between 1 April and 30 April 2026, Cachalia reported that 12 people were murdered using legally owned firearms.

State-owned guns linked to some murders

Cachalia also broke down how many of the unlicensed firearms used in murders had previously belonged to state security agencies.

For firearms that had once been in the possession of the South African Police Service, the minister gave these figures:

“38 people were murdered using a firearm that had once been in Saps possession during the 2022/2023 financial year, rising slightly the following year. ’40 were murdered during the 2023/2024 financial year, 24 during the 2024/2025 financial year and 40 during the 2025/2026 financial year,'”

showing fluctuation over the four years.

For firearms that had previously been in the South African National Defence Force, Cachalia said:

“Two people were killed using a firearm that had previously been in SANDF hands during 2022/2023, … ‘Seven were murdered during the 2023/2024 financial year, one during the 2024/2025 financial year and four during the 2025/2026 financial year,'”

indicating smaller numbers linked to the SANDF.

Information not provided

The minister’s reply did not include a separate breakdown for firearms that had previously been in the possession of metro police departments, despite that category being part of the original question, Cachalia said.

What the figures show

Taken together, the data presented to Parliament by Cachalia show that unlicensed firearms accounted for the large majority of firearm-related murders in the years covered by his reply, with legally owned firearms accounting for far fewer deaths in the same period.