‘Central Firearm Registry remains a concern’

The Central Firearm Registry remains a concern, even though improvements have been made. That is according to South African Police Service’s Lieutenant General Maropeng Mamotheti.

The police’s top brass appeared before Parliament’s Police Portfolio Committee to explain how technology is being used to fight crime and to modernise the Central Firearm Registry.

In the previous Parliament, MPs visited the Registry and found a dilapidated building with firearm applications and renewals stacked on the floor because there is no proper filing system.

“So, we cleared the space, but however, I must say, because we are using paper, time and again we will have those papers coming in. And problem only solved with this system, we are looking forward to implementing in the new financial year. I can confirm we are still in the building but managing things well in terms of challenges we have faced,” explains Mamotheti.

Meanwhile, National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola says CCTV cameras have been rolled out in the KwaMashu and Inanda areas in KwaZulu-Natal, which are crime hotspots.

Masemola says they are aiming to get an integrated system where facial recognition will be used to track down criminals.

“So, the aim is to integrate all municipal and road infrastructure, RTMC systems, to link all cameras and implement facial recognition. We have seen, especially cameras on big national and farm roads, they are quite good. We have made arrests because of those cameras, they are quite valuable,” says Masemola.