The Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa has welcomed the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of an application for leave to appeal by the Justice Alliance of South Africa (JASA) on the question of firearms compensation.
JASA had sought to compel Government to pay compensation for firearms that were voluntarily surrendered for destruction.   Their relief was dismissed in the Cape High Court as well as the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). 

The SCA also imposed a costs order against JASA.  They then appealed to the Constitutional Court on the question of this costs order.  They claimed that they were a poor human rights organization and had been litigating in the public interest; as well as pursuing their constitutional rights and should therefore not be burdened with a costs order. 
As the Ministry of Police, we argued that they had not sought to vindicate any constitutional rights and only tried to introduce a constitutional challenge through the backdoor.  We also questioned their claims of poverty and pointed out that the gun lobby was in fact well-oiled and litigious. 

The Constitutional Court dismissed their application for leave to appeal.  JASA will now have to pay the legal costs incurred by the Minister in the Supreme Court of Appeal.
In its judgment the Constitutional Court held that the challenge was not based on any alleged infringement of a fundamental right in the Constitution and that the challenge was based on the more general ground that the Guidelines fell beyond the powers granted in specific sections of the Act. The Court held that exceptional considerations which would justify interference with a costs order on appeal were not present. Leave to appeal was refused.
Once again this Constitutional Court judgment vindicates our approach of ensuring responsible firearm control, as stipulated within our Firearm Control Act.  The reduction of the number of illegal firearms in circulation is an important part of the Department's strategy to combat violent crime.  Part of this pillar is ensuring that we continuously promote and advocate responsible firearm control, both by police and civilians.

The provisions of the Firearms Control Act (FCA), in particular section 136(3), state that no compensation is payable when a firearm is surrendered and destroyed and also the scheme of the Act which is to provide for compensation only when a firearm is retained by the State.  The Act does recognize that when the State retains a firearm, which is deemed to be of historical value that value accrues to the State for which the former owner should be compensated.

Zweli Mnisi
Chief Director: Communications/Spokesperson
Ministry of Police
Republic of South Africa
Tel: +27 (0)12 393 4341 & +27 (0)21 467 7007
Fax: +27 (0)12 393 2833 & +27 (0)21 467 7033
Mobile: +27 (0)82 045 4024

Website: www.saps.gov.za