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The Portfolio Committee on Police suspended their meeting with the South African Police on Tuesday after inaccurate statistics were provided to them.
Committee Chairperson Tina Joemat-Pettersson says the meeting was scheduled for Tuesday to receive a final report on the number of firearms surrendered during the approved amnesty period for 2020/2021.
She says the statistics given to them showed inconsistencies and SAPS must be given time to reconcile the numbers to present accurate and reliable statistics to the committee to ensure transparency.
The Portfolio Committee also raised serious concerns regarding the firearm licence backlog at the Central Firearms Registry (CFR).
CFR informed the public on Monday that gun owners who surrendered their firearms due to licensing issues will now have to wait longer for their new licenses to be approved.
Police blamed Covid-19 for the delays and said the turnaround time for licenses would now be extended from 90 working days to 120.
National Police Spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidu says applications for licences in respect of surrendered firearms during the amnesty period have increased by more than 80 per cent.
He says applications for licences in respect of surrendered firearms require an entirely different process to that of a normal renewal of licences which inevitably prolongs the turn-around time for their finalisation.
Joemat-Petterson says only 280 applications were processed for the 2020/21 amnesty against 30 356 applications made.
The Committee instructed the Deputy Minister of Police and the National Commissioner to visit the CFR to resolve the challenges.
