Table 1: Number of Crimes Involving Firearms
1994 to 1998
CRIME 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Murder with firearm 11 134 11 056 11 394 11 224 12 298
Attempted murder with firearm 23 682 22 035 22 383 20 933 21 967
Robbery with firearm - - 51 004 54 230 74 854
Attempted robbery with firearm - - 2 014 4 237 4 703
Theft of firearm (No of reported cases1) 7 285 7 456 9 085 12 141 11 391
Negligent loss of firearm - - 4 729 4 964 6 224
Illegal Possession of firearm/ ammunition - - 13413 13036 14 554
Negligent handling of firearm - - 2 895 3 362 3 384
Firing of firearm in municipal areas - - 2 791 2 983 3 098
Pointing of firearm - - 22 742 23 655 25 375
Source: SAPS CIAC 2

When comparing annual crime statistics, it is useful to examine the figures in terms their incidence per 100 000 of the population for each year as this serves to prevent population variations from leading to incorrectly perceived crime tendencies. The table below presents the figures for reported crimes involving firearms from 1994 to 1998 per 100 000 of the population:

Table 2: Rate of Crimes involving Firearms
(per 100 000 of the population)
1994 to 1998
CRIME 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Murder with firearm 28.8 28.0 28.2 27.2 29.1
Attempted murder with firearm 61.3 55.8 55.5 50.8 52.2
Robbery with firearm - - 126.4 131.6 165.0
Attempted robbery with firearm - - 5.0 10.3 11.2
Theft of firearm 18.9 18.9 22.5 29.4 27.0
Negligent loss of firearm - - 11.7 12.0 14.8
Illegal Possession of Firearm/
Ammunition		 - - 33.2 31.6 34.5
Negligent handling of firearm - - 7.2 8.2 8.0
Firing of firearm in municipal area - - 6.9 7.2 7.4
Pointing of firearm - - 56.4 57.4 60.2
Other transgressions of the Arms and Ammunition Act - - 3.3 1.9 2.2
SOURCE: SAPS CIAC

1 A single case could involve the theft of more than one firearm.
2 Where no data is available, it is because a new Crime Code List was only implemented in 1995.
See also section entitled Notes on the Use of Statistics in this Publication.

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