Nearly 11,000 people were murdered with illegal firearms in South Africa during a single financial year, according to new police figures.
Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia revealed that 10,911 people were killed using unlicensed firearms during the 2023/24 financial year.
The figures were provided in a written parliamentary reply to FF Plus MP Wouter Wessels, who requested information about murders committed with legal and illegal firearms.
Cachalia said 10,613 people were killed with unlicensed firearms in 2022/23.
The figure increased to 10,911 in 2023/24 before declining to 10,450 in 2024/25 and 9,323 in 2025/26.
A further 708 people were murdered with illegal firearms between 1 April and 30 April 2026. This was the only available figure for the current financial year at the time of the reply.
Legal guns linked to fewer killings
The number of murders committed with legally owned firearms was significantly lower.
According to Cachalia, 120 people were murdered with a legal firearm in the hands of a licensed owner during 2022/23.
This dropped to 90 in 2023/24. The figure then increased to 108 in 2024/25 before falling to 75 in 2025/26.
Police recorded another 12 murders involving legally owned firearms during April 2026.
Former police and military guns used in murders
The parliamentary reply also showed that some illegal firearms used in murders had previously belonged to state security agencies.
Firearms previously held by the South African Police Service were linked to 38 murders in 2022/23.
This increased to 40 in 2023/24 before dropping to 24 in 2024/25. The figure returned to 40 in 2025/26.
Weapons that had previously belonged to the South African National Defence Force were linked to two murders in 2022/23, seven in 2023/24, one in 2024/25 and four in 2025/26.
The reply did not provide separate figures for firearms that had previously belonged to metro police departments.
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