Chapter 5

ACTION TO IMPROVE FIREARMS CONTROLS

Chapter overview

The following section looks at possible recommendations for action to improve firearm controls. Some of the proposed options need community role-players and structures to provide leadership, both towards improving security in the community and ultimately addressing some of the problems associated with firearms in the community.

Looking at who the communities currently turn to for conflict resolution gives us insight into structures that could play a role in improving firearm controls. In the rural areas, respondents usually turn to the traditional authority for conflict resolution, while in the urban areas it is usually the police. Similar structures were identified for improving controls over firearms. The focus group boxes explore in more depth some of the causes of conflict in Kwa Mashu and Tsolo-Qumbo, as well as the recommended strategies to redress the situation.

Structure turned to for conflict resolution

Across all categories of respondents, the police were rated the most common organisation to turn to when dealing with conflicts. However, this was one of a number of different options utilised by the respondents. Other key responses included 'resolving the matter ourselves' and 'turning to friends or family'.In response to the question, "If you and someone else in your community were to have a serious argument, who would you first approach to help you?" the two most popular sources of help were the police (by 23.7% of the respondents) and the traditional authority (by 21.4% of the respondents). The respondents from Lekoa-Vaal formal and informal areas were more inclined to turn to the police (42.3% of the formal sample and 31.3% of the informal sample) as opposed the Lekoa-Vaal hostel sample, who would approach the block committee to resolve the serious argument.

The street and block committees are those structures formed to take care of the administration of issues relevant to people living on a specific street, or in a specific block. In larger settlements, many street committees fall under the jurisdiction of a block committee, though this is not always the case.

It was interesting that 26.7% of the respondents from the Lekoa-Vaal informal settlement also turned to their street committee to resolve serious conflict, as opposed to the police. This reinforces the notion that the police have a better relationship with the residents in the formal urban settlements than the informal settlements and the hostels. The source turned to for help in the event of a serious argument is usually a person or structure trusted by the community, who is seen as impartial and has a mandate to perform that role.

Unlike the Tsolo-Qumbo and the Lekoa-Vaal sample, who had clearly identified structures for turning to for the resolution of a serious argument, the respondents from Kwa Mashu identified a range of different structures. This was closely informed by the lack of trust the community had in the local police station, which resulted in the community's finding alternative structures to turn to for conflict resolution (although over a quarter of the Kwa Mashu sample still did in fact turn to the police).

The relatively high proportion of the Kwa Mashu community that resolve serious arguments themselves is a difficult indicator to interpret. The positive aspect of this is that it shows that the residents within the community are able to resolve problems amongst themselves. The negative implication within the Kwa Mashu context is that in the absence of the necessary conflict resolution skills, and given the violent
history of the township, this often results in violence.

The majority of the respondents from the Tsolo-Qumbo area turned to the traditional authorities for assistance where they needed help to resolve an argument between two people in the community. The respondents from Tsolo-Qumbo would turn to the traditional authority (70.0%) should they have a serious argument with someone in the community; a smaller proportion would resolve the matter Themselves (9.6%); or ask friends or relatives (8.4%) for assistance. The subject and gravity of the argument would determine which level of the traditional authority would be approached to deal with the matter.

The most significant difference between the male and female respondents was the comparatively higher proportion of male respondents (16.0%) that 'resolved issues themselves' as opposed to the female respondents (9.4%). Another interesting variation was the fact that respondents under the age of 20 years (24.7%) more readily turned to friends or family for the resolution of arguments than respondents over the age of 20 years.

It was interesting to consider those people that took the action of conflict resolution into their own hands. As a hypothesis, we thought that it would be interesting to see if those respondents that turned to 'friends, relatives or neighbours', or who answered 'We resolve the matter ourselves' were more or less likely to answer that 'they were prepared to encourage people to stop owning firearms'. In the table below, this was explored and we found that the respondents who turned to 'friends, relatives or neighbours', or who answered 'We resolve the matter ourselves' were the least willing to take such action. This reflects their inward-looking approach and a low level of linkage with the community structures available.

Kwa Mashu and Tsolo-Qumbo focus groups: conflict prevention

Economic woes were felt to be at the root of conflict in Tsolo-Qumbo. The youth felt that there were no job prospects in their areas for them, and that this feeling led people to crime. The youth felt that the traditional authority system was breaking down. This was a matter for concern, since the traditional authority was identified in the quantitative findings as one of the main vehicles for conflict resolution in rural areas.

Views of the youth of Tsolo-Qumbo

The majority of the participants in both areas believed that crime and violence could be decreased by the introduction of industrial sites so that people could be employed. There must be job prospects for the youth so that they did not feel that turning to firearms and violence represented their only future.

In both the areas of Qumbo and Tsolo, traditional leaders seem to be respected by their community. However, a breakdown in the traditional system is occurring in this province, though it has not yet affected the areas of Qumbo and Tsolo. The respondents felt that in many other areas the traditional leaders had lost their power in the minds of the people. Most crime and violence is still reported to the traditional structures first, and these structures would report the incident to the police if need be. A strong and strict authority also seems to play a large role in keeping an area in a stable condition. The anti-crime organisations only flourish in those areas where they have been allowed to take root and where the traditional authorities did not do anything to combat their growth and intimidation from day one.

The majority of the participants believe that the community can end crime and violence by organising community patrols and random searches by the South African National Defence Force. Other participants in both areas believe that government can end crime and violence by implementing tough laws on illegal gun owners and by ending all anti-crime organisations.

Views of the youth of Kwa Mashu

Violence and crime is very high in Kwa Mashu and gangs are on the increase. Respondents feel that community members can no longer move freely in Kwa Mashu because of violence. An example of violence was given: just the previous week a mother and her sick son had been shot and killed when R10 000 was being stolen from them. The youth felt that there were problems with the police and that a 'cold war' existed between the police and the community. The only way for the community to address the problem would be for the community and the police to work together to overcome this situation. Community initiatives could assist in addressing the problem of rising crime and firearms.Community initiatives suggested by the youth included:

Community leaders in particular councils must be involved in solving crime.



Partnerships were needed between the government and community.



The youth needed to facilitate skills and employment programmes. l The community needed to build long-term projects.



The youth needed to have a sports programme.



The community needed to ensure that certain steps were taken with regard to the police. These steps should include making sure that one police officer did not stay too long at the police station. Police must not have sources who were criminals. Detectives must be deployed to ensure that outstanding cases were dealt with.



An anti-crime campaign should be launched that would focus on illegal guns.

On the whole most of the respondents felt they would not go to the local police if there was conflict or violence, although some of the youth said they might go to the police station in town, as opposed to the nearer one in the community. In situations of violence and conflict, other community people would be contacted such as:

Church leaders in the area;



Political or local leaders and councillors;



Youth leaders;



Local people in some areas, such as local business persons, who could wield authority and help in a bad situation.

Views of the women of Kwa Mashu

When asked if there was a lot of violence in the community, the women said not. However, when asked if there was a lot of crime in the community, the women all said yes and went on to talk of the extent of violent crimes such as rape and murder. It became clear through the discussion that most women in the group equated the term 'violence' with political violence and used the term 'crime' to refer to all crime, including violent crime; this explains why the group felt violence had decreased and crime had increased. This perception explains the statement made that there was no violence at the moment but that crime had increased. The women felt that some of the community initiatives to deal with crime could include:

Strengthening community police forums and co-operation between the police and community;



Looking at education around violence and guns;



Building strong community structures;



Developing an approach to guns that would draw in the whole community and address the different needs of different sections of the community.

In response to the question about 'who the community turned to if there was a problem', all the women said that at some stage they had reported crime to the police. However, most of the women said they now felt that reporting crime to the police was a waste of time and that the Kwa Mashu police were corrupt. One woman said that even if you took a criminal to the police station the police took no notice. A number of women said they no longer reported matters to the police because the police would tell the criminals and then you would be attacked. One woman said that you would be lucky if the police arrived within two hours, by which time the criminals had gone. She spoke about a young boy being shot near her house and the community waiting the whole night for the police to arrive. Another woman said the police made a point of only arriving once the criminals had left the scene.

Structures identified for improving firearm controls

As far as the top-ranked structures went, there were no differences between what the respondents felt would be the best organisation to improve firearm controls in the short term and in the long term. In the short term, the police (27.9%) and the defence force (23.1%) were the highest ranking options, while in the long term these were also the police (40.9%) and the defence force (22.2%). In the lower-ranked choices of structures for improving firearm controls, there was more variation. In the short term there was support for the traditional authority (15.4%) or the community residents themselves (10.8%).

These short-term options were not seen as viable ones for addressing the problem in long term. In the long term only 2.7% of the sample mentioned the traditional authority and 8.5% of the sample the community residents themselves. A more popular option for the long term was the government (as supported by 16.2% of the sample). There was a significant difference by settlement area between the structures which the respondents identified for improving the problem of small arms in their community. The Tsolo-Qumbo residents in particular expressed support for letting the traditional authority deal with the issues of small arms in the short term (50.5%), while in the long term allowing the police to address the problem (51.5%). In most settlement areas, except Tsolo-Qumbo, a combination of the police and the defence force was considered as the best option for improving the control on firearms in the short term. Respondents also indicated that the community organisations and the community residents should also play a more significant role.

There was a slight correlation between which structure the respondents identified for improving the problem of small arms in their community and their willingness to discourage people from keeping firearms and their level of organisation membership.The respondents from the different area types in Kwa Mashu demonstrated similar structures for conflict resolution across the formal, informal and hostel settlement areas.

Kwa Mashu snapshot: attitudes to the police

Twelve of the respondents viewed the police in their area in a negative light. It was felt that the police did not protect the community and were in actual fact involved in some of the criminal activities in the Kwa Mashu. Some of the quotes indicating this include:

"[The police are] helpless and hopeless." - Female school dropout

"[The police are] are as good as nothing." - Male, ordinary young person

"[The police are] the most corrupt force in the world." - Male who served time in prison for rape.

Four of the respondents felt that the police in Kwa Mashu were satisfactory, since they undertook responsibilities such as law enforcement and they protected the citizens. Another four respondents felt that sometimes the police did a good job and at other times they did not. Some of the quotes indicating this include:

"Partly [the police] are helpful and partly not." - Male employed in the formal sector

"[The police] try to do their work, but with little success." - Female, ordinary young person

"Some [police] do their job and some do not."- Male school-going pupil

Actions to improve firearms controls

Respondents were presented with the open-ended question, "What things would you recommend [should be done] to control the use of guns or reduce the need for guns in your community?" The responses were coded into fourteen different actions for improving firearm controls in their community. Respondents could give more than one answer to this question.

The most commonly given option was to increase the number of police and police stations, as well as for the community to assist the police in their work (41.6% of the respondents). The second most common response was to involve the community in actions to improve firearm controls as well as social crime prevention actions (30.2%). The third most common response (as given by 24.8% of the respondents) was also in support of the police, but more specifically to ensure that the police investigated and/or confiscated unlicensed firearms. The three actions most favoured by the community demonstrated a balanced outlook in that the solution to the resolution of small arms was conceptualised as a combination of community and police initiatives. There were fluctuations across the different settlement areas in the type of recommendations for action to improve firearm controls. There was a high level of support for increased police presence from the majority of the Kwa Mashu respondents as well as the Lekoa-Vaal hostel and formal residential respondents, while the remainder of the sample did not as significantly support this. In the Lekoa-Vaal sample, it was found that the opinions of the respondents from the formal area and the hostel areas were similar in that they both highly recommended more police (37.5% and 42.5% respectively) and community involvement (32.2% and 30.0%). This was in contrast to the respondents from the informal areas, who most highly recommended better investigation of unlicensedfirearms. Perhaps this is because in the informal settlement the problem of small arms is one of unlicensed firearms. In contrast to the respondents from the Lekoa-Vaal informal and formal areas, the respondents from the hostels also showed significant support for better prosecution or implementation of the laws.

What was also interesting was that respondents from Tsolo-Qumbo did not show as much support for community involvement as the other settlement areas did. This is a matter for concern, as it implies that perhaps a community-based action to address firearm proliferation would not be widely supported in these tribal areas. Actions in conjunction with the tribal authority might be more widely supported. The four main actions identified by the Tsolo-Qumbo respondents for the resolution of small arms were: increased police (as supported by 25.4% of the respondents); improved investigation or confiscation of unlicensed firearms (as supported by 25.6% of the respondents); better prosecution or implementation of the law (21.2% of the respondents); and a restriction on who could own a firearm (as supported by 20.8% of the respondents). It is interesting that a similar proportion of the Lekoa-Vaal urban formal respondents also identified a restriction on who might possess a firearm (21.0% of the respondents) as an option.

The Kwa Mashu sample provided an interesting profile on recommendations for improved firearms control. Across the three settlement areas, the rank order was similar and the proportion of respondents that supported these actions was within a narrow range of the other settlement areas. It is unusual in the South African context to find a community not divided in opinion across residential lines.

The most significant range between the responses of the male and female sample was evident in the recommendations on restrictions on who can own a firearm (17.9% of the female respondents supported this, as opposed to 10.8% of the male respondents). The life experiences of the female respondents would strongly underwrite this opinion. The women in the sample may have witnessed many situations in which the holder of a firearm acted in an irresponsible manner; this would inform their support for restrictions on who might own a firearm. Perhaps from the perspective of the male respondent these actions could have seemed appropriate.

The second most significant range between the responses of the female and male respondents was the greater support given by the male respondents to community involvement or social crime-prevention actions. This was interesting, as it is often the female members of the community who show a higher level of support for community-based actions than the male respondents. In this case, however, there was an unexpected show of support for community involvement by the male sample. More male respondents were also in favour of stricter firearm licensing (11.2% of the male respondents as opposed to 6.4% of the female respondents), while fewer male respondents supported better investigation or confiscation of unlicensed firearms than did female respondents (22.8% of the male respondents as opposed to 26.6% of the female respondents). The survey did not explore the opinions of the sample towards firearm licensing. In this question, the omission was sorely missed, as qualitative evidence suggested that the female respondents were more in favour of firearm licensing than male respondents.

The male and female respondents had a slightly different emphasis on what type of action to take to improve firearm controls. Besides those actions already mentioned, slightly more female respondents than male respondents supported the idea of employment or job creation (10.2% as opposed to 7.8%) and investigating or confiscating unlicensed firearms (26.6% as opposed to 22.8%). The male respondents showed greater support for restricting unnecessary gun use (6.8% as opposed to 3.6%).

There were few significant variations between the actions recommended by respondents of the different age groups. Two small differences that emerged were as follows. It was found that 13.5% of the under 20-year-old respondents supported tightening of the firearm legislation; and just over 10% of the 30 to 49-year-old respondents supported job creation mechanisms to improve control over firearms.

Kwa Mashu and Tsolo-Qumbo focus groups: firearms as a community problem

Views of the Tsolo-Qumbo youth focus groups

When the word 'gun' was mentioned most participants said that the first thoughts that came to their minds were of death, shooting and bloodshed. Yet most of them indicated that they would use a firearm for protection although they knew that it would bring death and bloodshed. Most of the participants in Tsolo felt that reporting all unlicensed guns to the traditional structures and not the police could reduce the number of guns. They saw the police as very corrupt and working hand in glove with the criminals.

Qumbo participants felt that there was nothing they could do to reduce the number of guns; only soldiers and the government could do this, but not the police. They also did not trust the police; they felt that they were very corrupt. To female participants, especially those between 35 and 50 years, it became a sensitive issue when one talked about reporting to the police, as they said that the police did not do their job properly. The participants felt that only thing the police officers knew how to do was to fall in love with their daughters and end up causing trouble within the community and between them, parents and boyfriends. The majority of the participants in both areas felt, however, that the government could be of great help by introducing tougher laws and longer jail sentences for criminals and illegal gun owners.

In both the areas of Qumbo and Tsolo the participants agreed that people had become very dependent on firearms for solving their problems. They no longer had confidence in the police and they felt that the police sometimes deliberately halted investigations by 'losing' documents. They believed that military soldiers, chiefs or the other tribal structures were much more effective than the police in solving this problem. The majority of the participants in both areas believed that the seizing of all unlicensed guns by soldiers and the conducting of random searches could alleviate the problem of firearms. The parents could also help by not allowing their children to bring guns home. Participants were generally uncertain of what other community-based initiatives could assist in solving the problem of firearms in these communities.

Views of the Kwa Mashu women focus group

All the women in the group felt that people too quickly turned to guns to solve their problems and that this was a major problem within Kwa Mashu.

Most of the women felt that the local councillors and community structures like the community policing forum had taken initiatives to address crime, but that these had been obstructed because the police did not want to do their work. All women felt that despite these initiatives firearms were still a problem.

There were a number of suggestions regarding steps that could be taken to address the problem of firearms; these included:

All the local police should be transferred and new police brought into KwaMashu because the local police were working with gangs.



The government must change the local police every two years.



Spray guns should be used for self defence rather than firearms.



Government must stop the supply of guns.



The question of the media promoting guns through adverts and programmes must be addressed because these promoted a positive image of firearms.



People should only be allowed to possess one gun and this must be licensed. A few women spoke of some criminals owning two guns, one licensed and one not. The unlicensed gun would be used in crime and violence. But even when this was not the case, most of the women felt that there was no need to own more than one firearm.



The government must take strong action against people who violated legislation regarding guns and the government should introduce stronger legislation.

Almost all the women felt that if a community-based strategy were to be developed it would need to include all sectors of Kwa Mashu and must address the lack of provision of a safety and security service and the problem of gangs.

This community initiative would need to look at the different people who made up the community in Kwa Mashu and then develop a campaign that would focus on the different perceptions held by different sectors of the community. There should be more focus on these different sectors so that this campaign could involve the whole of Kwa Mashu.

Views of the Kwa Mashu youth focus group

Most youth felt that the community relied on guns to sort out problems, particularly because the police were so ineffective. This reliance on guns was, however, a problem as it only led to more violence.

All the youth felt that there were at present no effective means of addressing the problem of firearms, and that initiatives like the joint police and military initiative, Operation Ventilation, were just temporary and had no long-term effect on guns and violence.

None of the young people knew of any effective initiatives that had been launched by the community to deal with the problem of guns. All of them felt that in order to deal effectively with the problem of guns there were three areas that needed to be addressed, as follows:

There was a need to deal with security measures and in particular the local police station; this would also include arrest and prosecutions of gangs.



The community needed to form strong community policing structures and structures to deal with youth and the harnessing of the vision and talents of the youth.



There was a need for job-creation schemes.

Interpretation of findings

The first aspect that this research reveals is that there are significant variations between the rural sample (as represented by the Tsolo-Qumbo respondents) and the urban sample (Kwa Mashu and Lekoa-Vaal). This should be a caution against generalisation in terms of the approach that would engage the different communities for addressing firearm proliferation.

Reflecting both cultural, political and geographic locality, the respondents from Tsolo-Qumbo supported the traditional authority. This was reflected in the structures they identified as conflict resolution mediators and as the best structure for improving firearm controls. However, the question of which structure could better spearhead firearm controls did not impact too significantly on which actions were actually recommended. Moreover, apart from the fact that they shied away from community-involvement type initiatives, the recommendations of the Tsolo-Qumbo respondents were pretty much on a par with those of the Lekoa-Vaal respondents.

In the urban environments of Lekoa-Vaal and Kwa Mashu, the police were used to resolve arguments, or alternatively the matter was resolved by the respondents themselves with the help of family, friends and neighbours. The police and defence force were seen as the main role-players in action to improve controls, in conjunction with the community and existing community structures.

The respondents identified a range of recommendations for action. These would be a useful guide for policy makers by showing what these communities would support. In fact 30.2% of the actions recommended were for community-based initiatives. While the policy was being drafted and implemented, little grass-roots impact would be felt. During this period, the community would need to design and implement its own strategies to control firearms.