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Gun owners who surrendered their firearms due to licensing issues will now have to wait longer for their new licenses to be approved.
This is according to the South African Police Service Central Firearm Registry.
National Police Spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidu says this is as a result of Covid-19 which resulted in unexpected delays.
Brigadier 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.
Brigadier Naidu says the application process used to take up to 90 working days but this has now been extended to 120 working days.
Firearm licence applicants are requested to exercise patience and allow SAPS to do due diligence in administering these applications.
