Fighting for Gun Rights

South Africans Fight to Keep Guns

As violent crime continues to soar, residents petition their government to keep self-defense rights

BY DARREN TAYLOR

A group of armed private security officers position their rifles during clashes at the Wolhuter Men’s Hostel in Jeppestown, Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 12, 2021.

JOHANNESBURG —South Africans are clamoring for guns in the midst of soaring violent crime, while their government tries to pass legislation to outlaw ownership of firearms for self-defense.

“A government is supposed to protect its people. A government is supposed to care about the welfare of citizens,” Dave Alfonso said outside a firearms dealership in Johannesburg, minutes after his purchase of a 9-mm pistol.

“Here we have a government which has established one of the most useless police forces in the world, and under whose watch we are now one of the most dangerous countries on the planet. A government that says South Africa will be safer when private citizens are not allowed to own guns!”

There are no official statistics indicating the recent rise in gun demand, but the police confirm burgeoning demand for firearm licenses.

Weapons dealerships across South Africa report rising trade since the events of July 2021, when mobs rampaged across several cities, destroying property, looting stores and private homes, and attacking people.

HUNDREDS LOST THEIR lives. Law enforcement agencies faced extreme public backlash for their initial slow reaction to the violence, with citizens forced to form vigilante militias to defend their families and properties.

“I think that opened a lot of eyes as to what this country could look like in the not-too-distant future, and people have been rushing to arm themselves,” said Nick Yale, who’s been selling firearms in Johannesburg for almost 40 years.

“The last time I saw demand like this was between 1990 and 1994.”

Thousands were killed between 1990 and 1994, as a South Africa transitioning from apartheid to democracy teetered on the brink of civil war, with bombings, assassinations, and security force massacres of protesters.

South Africa remains one of the most dangerous places on earth, consistently rated as such by global violence and crime watchdog groups.

WorldAtlas, which collates crime data from around the world, places South Af-

There are no official statistics indicating the recent rise in gun demand, but the police confirm burgeoning demand for firearm licenses.

rica ninth on its list of countries with the most murders, with 36 per 100,000 people. But that ranking springs from data prior to 2020.

Given that murders have increased exponentially since then, crime analysts say, South Africa’s murders per 100,000 people are now closer to 40, enough to put it on par with Lesotho, the tiny kingdom surrounded by South Africa, and ranked fifth on the World Atlas list.

SEVERAL VIOLENCE MONITORING organizations rank South African cities among the most dangerous, with Cape Town’s homicide rate—currently measured at 62.22 people murdered per 100,000, based on 2021 police statistics—being the highest in the world.

The country’s main firearms rights group, Gun Owners of South Africa (GOSA), says weapons sales and license applications spiked again after police released crime statistics in January— numbers that showed increases in all violent crimes, including murder, armed robbery, and rape.

The data showed almost 7,000 murders in the last three months of 2021, an increase of almost 9 percent compared to a year earlier.

New police information indicates almost 6,100 people murdered between January and March 2022, an increase

A young woman shoots with a CZ Shadow 2 9mm pistol during a gun show event in Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa, on April 2.

South Africa Police Services clash with looters in central Durban, on July 11, 2021. South Africa remains one of the most dangerous places on earth, constantly rated as such by global violence and crime watchdog groups.

of 22 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

Almost 11,000 rapes were reported during this period, and almost 14,000 attempted murders.

“We don’t need [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to invade us and bomb us; South Africa is at war with itself. I’m struggling to decide which place is safer at the moment—South Africa or Ukraine,” said Ockert Terblanche, a member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance.

As flippant as his comment appears to be, a comparison of the numbers of murder victims in South Africa with official civilian deaths in Ukraine gives insight into the scale of horror that Africa’s most industrialized economy is enduring.

IN EARLY MAY, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said that 3,381 civilians had been killed in the first 70 days of the Russian invasion.

So, Terblanche said, the civilian death toll in a “full-scale war isn’t too different from the death toll of South Africans murdered over a similar period of time, in a so-called peaceful country.”

GOSA chairman Paul Oxley told Insight: “In this context, it’s understandable and fair that sensible people want to arm themselves. What’s not understandable is that the government wants to remove citizens’ rights to defend themselves from criminals.”

In May 2021, the African National Congress (ANC) government moved to amend the Firearms Control Act. The change, if approved in Parliament, would

“South Africa is at war with itself.”

prohibit the issuing of licenses for firearms bought for self-defense.

Following a public outcry and court action, the proposed bill is on hold, but Minister of Police Bheki Cele told Insight that the ANC “remains resolute” in making the amendment, “because it will make South Africa a safer place.”

He said, “Our data show that the majority of gun crimes are committed by criminals in possession of weapons stolen from private citizens.”

THE COUNTRY’S BIGGEST anti-firearms lobby group, Gun Free South Africa (GFSA), says reducing the numbers of firearms will mean less violent crime.

“We need nonproliferation, in line with international norms and standards. There are too many guns in the country,” GFSA Director Adele Kirsten said.

According to international weapons monitoring group Small Arms Survey, there are 5.4 million privately held firearms in the country, which has a population of roughly 60 million.

That’s enough to place South Africa 20th on its list of nations with the most private guns in circulation, but far away from the 120.5 firearms for every 100 residents in the United States.

Oxley points out that the 5.4 million private guns in South Africa are “legal, and registered by responsible people who have to undergo strict competency training and background checks before they’re permitted to take possession of firearms.”

He said the government shouldn’t be trying to limit ownership of legal guns, but should focus instead on seizing the many thousands of illicit weapons leftover from the apartheid era.

DURING APARTHEID, black people were prohibited from owning firearms. By contrast, the Nationalist government made it relatively easy for whites to get guns, arguing that they needed to protect themselves from communist liberation movements such as the ANC.

But the Soviet Union provided thousands of AK-47 assault rifles and Makarov pistols to the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, or “Spear of the Nation.” These were smuggled into South Africa through neighboring countries, especially Mozambique.

Kirsten said she’d provided the government with “tons” of research showing that limiting legal gun ownership “will lower levels of gun violence and can only do good.”

Rubbish, is Oxley’s response.

He said: “None of what GFSA presents as credible research is applicable to South Africa. It applies to countries in Europe, which don’t have the levels of violent crime that we have here. Europeans don’t have to defend themselves against the kind and scale of threats that are normal in a traumatized, violent nation such as South Africa.

“Our constitution guarantees us the right to life, and if we have that right, then we surely also have the right to protect our lives and to defend the lives of our loved ones.

“Until someone, somewhere, comes up with a better way, then the best way to do that is by using firearms, responsibly and safely, but using them when necessary and without hesitation when life is threatened.”

That’s exactly what Ronald Naidoo said he did when he and colleagues from a neighborhood watch group fought off a crowd of people trying to enter the Phoenix suburb of Durban inJuly 2021. He told Insight: “If we didn’t have our firearms, I don’t think I’d be standing here right now. The only reason these guys did not invade our area was because we stood guard at all entrances with firearms. When they approached,

9th

The World Atlas, based on data before 2020, places South Africa 9th on its list of countries with the most murders, with 36 per 100,000 people. Now, it's closer to 40 per 100,000 people, crime analysts say.

7,000

MURDERS

occurred in the last three months of 2021, data show. we shot over their heads and they turned back.”

GOSA says if weapons for personal protection are banned, South Africa will become even more dangerous than it already is.

“Go into any suburb now and you’ll see that it’s protected by private security officers, not the police, because our police service is broken by corruption, mismanagement, lack of training, and lack of funding,” Oxley said.

“LIKEWISE, POOR TOWNSHIPS are often protected by private self-defense units. The new bill, if it becomes law, will mean it’s illegal for private security officers and these units to own firearms.

“It’ll be party time for the criminals.”

But Cele maintains the self-defense clause must be removed from the Firearms Control Act as soon as possible.

“It’s too easy to abuse. Almost everyone registering a gun says they want it for self-defense. We only want police in this country to have guns,” he said.

GOSA says if Parliament passes the law, it’ll challenge it before South Africa’s Constitutional Court, the highest in the land.

“It can’t be that only police have the right to self-defense using firearms,” Oxley said. “What must citizens use to defend themselves against rampant criminality? Knives? Karate?” 

Capt. Joshua Hoppe with his wife and their two children in front of an MV-22B Osprey, on the flightline of MCAS Yuma, Ariz. Amid-june report is making its way into the hands of U.S. representatives and senators. Titled “Congressional Survey of Accountability, Truth, and Freedom,” the reportistheresultofagrassrootseffortof nearly 600 military service members to fight back against what they allege to be discriminatorytreatmentthey’vereceived by the Department of Defense (DOD) for refusing to abide by its vaccine mandate.

The final page of the 12-page report includes links to enclosures, with more than 60 pages of testimony from various members of the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force, National Guard, and Coast Guard.

Capt. Joshua Hoppe, a Marines Corp MV-22B Osprey pilot, told Insight that he is praying for the report to “bring accountability, truth, and freedom to the many honorable service members who want nothing more than continued service without infringing on their personal beliefs and freedoms.”

“This is why I’m speaking up and holding the line like all the other Marines who haverequestedreligiousaccommodation,” Hoppe said.

Ever since the vaccine mandate was imposed, he and others began pushing for political action and compelling others to make a plea to Congress to take action on their behalf.

Hoppe said he is “humbled to be part of this grassroots effort,” and he appreciates “everyone willing to stand up and fight.” According to the Osprey pilot of six years, “the mandate violates the Constitution by trampling over our religious freedoms, our medical freedoms, [and] our moral freedoms.”

With“thoroughdocumentation,”Hoppe requested religious accommodation on Sept. 8, 2021, but was denied on Oct. 21, 2021.AsubsequentappealmadeonNov.5, 2021,wasalsodeniedthefollowingMarch.

Lt. Col. Daniel Lewis, a third-generation Marine with almost 20 years of service, also spoke to Insight.

“What I have witnessed [regarding the measures taken against the coronavirus] over the last two years in our country and in our Defense Department is truly soul-crushing,” he said.

As with Hoppe, his application and appealforreligiousexemptionwere“spe-

cifically and categorically denied.”

While Lewis is contemplating the decision to take the vaccine, he believes it’s necessary to continue speaking out against the mandate, whatever his final decision will be.

“I’m not being a hypocrite,” he said. “It has to be considered for the sake of my family and our future, and my sacrifice doesn’t change the facts of the case or the debate.

“Despite leadership’s direction to provide dignity and respect to those members wishing to stand firm in their first principles and God-given rights,” he said, adding that service members “were treated very poorly—and unnecessarily so—and the survey we conducted clearly demonstrates this.”

BothHoppeandLewisemphasizedthat their views don’t reflect the views of the DOD, the Department of the Navy, or the U.S. Marine Corps.

Burden Ignored

It’s Hoppe’s desire to convince Congress that what the DOD has been doing is unlawful.

Lewis hopes that the survey will provide “civilian leadership a fact-based warning about what is happening to their military uniformed members.”

“Our elected representation and their constituents need to understand what’s happening as the mandate continues to be enforced,” he said.

Both Marine Corps officers are concerned about the legality of mandating the vaccine. Hoppe is particularly concerned about the “blanket denials for the religious accommodation requests,” explaining that “the burden of proof is on the government to prove that there is a compellinggovernmentalinterestinorder to deny our religious freedoms by forcing us to take a vaccine that we’ve requested notto,basedonoursincerelyheldbeliefs.”

“This has not been the case,” he said.

On Nov. 2, 2021, the commandant and the sergeant major of the Marine Corps released a video message to the force stating: “I know the science behind it. I know how the vaccine was developed. I’m confident in it.”

But, as Hoppe notes, Gen. David H. Berger didn’t expound on any of the science in the video or in any of the denial letters Marines have received.

“The [vaccine] mandate violates the Constitution by trampling over our religious freedoms, our medical freedoms, [and] our moral freedoms.”

Capt. Joshua Hoppe, Marines Corps pilot

Hoppe said there are more than 27 different federal court cases challenging the mandate. Most of the cases, he said, are making challenges based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. However, he pointed to the class action lawsuit by Dale Saran, which challenges the legality of mandating a vaccine by arguing that the COVID-19 treatments are not truly vaccines.

“It doesn’t prevent you from getting COVID, nor does it keep you from spreading it,” Hoppe said.

Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) agreed, stating: “The shot mandate is placing an undue burden on our dedicated service members.

“Experienced warriors must face the choice of getting the shot against their personal or religious beliefs to continue their patriotic service in defense of our freedoms,orsacrificetheirmilitarycareer.”

The lawmaker also considers it “outrageous,” saying it’s well-known that the vaccine doesn’t prevent infection or spread of the virus.

Grounded and in Limbo

Service members who refuse to comply with the mandate for religious or other reasons are now finding themselves facing adverse actions.

“While there are challenges in court, the DOD is continuing full steam ahead with separating individuals and taking other adverse actions, like the grounding of pilots, for example,” Hoppe said.

While Hoppe considers himself fortunate to continue flying the MV-22 Osprey, he said, “hundreds of other pilots and aircrew across the DOD have been grounded for the past 10 months.”

Since some are grounded and others are not, he doesn’t understand “such a disparity of treatment among service members” by the DOD.

“Why are some treated terribly—even to the extent of being sent to mental counseling because they requested a religious accommodation to the vaccine?”

Those who have served in the Marine Corps for less than six years and are “in limbo,”waitingfortheirappealstobefully adjudicated,hesaid,“aregoingtoberapidlypushedoutofservicewithintwotofour weeks” once the final decision is made.

To that end, Stauber said, “Medical decisions are personal and should be made by an individual in consultation with their doctor, not forced by a mandate.”

A Future Threatened

Lewis indicated that a “certain profile” fits those refusing to take the vaccine. He or she is “likely someone grounded in their faith, someone with a bit of life experience and seniority, and someone who can critically think.” He is gravely concerned that such a profile will “no longer be part of the military or no longer be welcomed in the military.”

While he continues to serve in the Marine Corps, his hope is to “continue providing fact-based information and arguments against what is being proven in both the DoD’s administrative proceedings as well as the civilian judicial system proceedings as an unlawful enforcement regime.”

It’s startling to Lewis that even people with previous medical exemptions were subsequently denied, as noted in the survey. And several participants in the survey included those “slated for command.” However, he said, he has voluntarily removed himself from consideration to become a commanding officer.

“The COVID mitigation and non-pharmaceutical interventions being enforced are things I can’t enforce on others, [as] they’re being enforced on me,” he said.

Lewis has no intention of undermining the Marine Corps’ decision, but he can’t see himself forcing others to “get the shot.” More than anything, it’s the end result that has him concerned.

“How are we going to become a more lethal, capable, and modern force if people, like those represented in the survey, are being pressured to get out?” he said.

“How many people will want to reenlist? How many officers would want to take commanding positions? There’s already a big cost to what they’re enforcing, and it’s going to be unrecoverable— and I don’t think people understand it.

“On the aviation side, it is astronomical, [as] pilots are being removed from command positions and instructor pilots are grounded first and then removed.”

These losses will hurt aviation training for years to come—at a time when it’s already suffering from shortages, he said.

It’s Not Enough

Lewis said, “The military is setting itself up for a massive readiness, capability,

“What I have witnessed [regarding the measures taken against the coronavirus] over the last two years in our country and in our Defense Department is truly soul-crushing.”

Lt. Col. Daniel Lewis

[and] lethality shortfall if we continue down this path.” Military leadership is “looking at the pilot production shortfall [and] their ability to produce and retain.”

“But they’re not looking at who they’re pushing out the door,” he said.

“How is morale, readiness, lethality, modernization, recruitment, and retention being affected—positive or negative—under this construct? [That] would be a good question to ask, as a starting point, in my humble opinion.”

Stauber agreed, saying, “Military readiness has been negatively impacted by this administration’s obsession with COVID-19 being the number one enemy, in lieu of known and sworn enemies worldwide.” He remains concerned that “our national security is more at risk.”

“Thearmedservicesarenoplace forpoliticalvirtuesignaling,”thelawmakersaid.

“Totalitarian states like communist China are more emboldened than ever, and yet the Biden administration decided to force through this shot mandate that weakened—not strengthened—our fighting forces.”

Stauber’s congressional office has been contacted by several active-duty military personnel from his district and across the country.

27

CASES

There are over 27 different federal court cases challenging the vaccine mandate, a Marine Corps officer says.

“[They]arepleadingwithmetodosomethingonthisissue,”hesaid,addingthathe strongly opposes President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s “tyrannical” vaccine mandate.

In the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, Stauber supported a provision to prohibit dishonorable discharges for service members who refuse the vaccine. While he’s glad the provision was included and signed into law, he said “it doesn’t go far enough,” and he has promised to “continue to fight to end this mandate on our brave men and women.”

InaresponsetoaninquiryfromInsight, the DOD, without replying to any questions posed, pointed to the Aug. 25, 2021, statementannouncingtheissuanceofthe Pentagon’s vaccine mandate. 

SPOTLIGHT

Where Sacred Rivers Meet

PEOPLE WALK AMID A SANDSTORM

at Triveni Sangam, the confluence of the sacred rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati, on a summer day in Prayagraj, India, on June 28.