PROCEDURES FOR CONVERTING GREEN LICENCES TO WHITE LICENCES
1. If you only have green licences for your firearms (green licences are also those licences pasted in blue and green ID-books), you MUST go to your Designated Firearms Officer (DFO) at your closest police station and make sure which of your firearms are still licenced only with green licences.
2. Many people did apply for white licences in the transition period (2005 to 2009) but never received white licence cards (some have forgotten that they had applied for white licences). Even if you never received a white licence but the SAPS system shows that they had issued you with a white licence (or licences), your firearm(s) are now licenced with a white licence (SAPS do not recognise the green licence of that firearm any more).
3. Make sure that the white licences mentioned in 2 above, are still valid (even if you do not have the licence card in your possession or never received it). If the SAPS system shows that you have a white licence which is still valid, and you do not have a white card licence for that firearm, ask your DFO to request a re-print of that licence(s).
4. If any of your white licences mentioned in 2 above have lapsed (even if you do not have a white licence card for it or never received same), you can still participate in the current amnesty which runs to 31 January 2021. It is the only manner of getting that firearm licenced on your name again. Read our suggested procedure for participation in the current amnesty in this Newsletter.
5. Understand the different categories of white licences (includes what dedicated status means) - read HERE
6. Understand what Proficiency Training is - read HERE
7. Understand How to Apply for Competency - read HERE
8. If you have more than four green licences (or a semi-auto rifle or semi-auto shotgun with only a green licence), you need dedicated status to own more than 4 firearms when you transfer your green licences to white licences. You can read the procedure for applying for dedicated hunter and or dedicated sports-person status with Natshoot.
9. Understand the procedure to apply for a new white licence - read HERE
10. When submitting new white licence applications against your green licences, take this Directive of the National Commissioner of Police with you so that your DFO can see that application for a new white licence can be done and that this is an order of the highest police official (albeit dated 2016) - show your DFO paragraph 7 of the Directive which you must download HERE. DO NOT let your DFO tell you that you have to participate in the current amnesty if you want to transfer your green licences to white licences.
11. We are aware that DFOs are not always sure of the correct procedures of how to transfer green licences to white licences and that they do not know which application forms applicants must use. We suggest you fill in both an Application for a New Licence (download SAPS 271 form here) and an Application for Renewal of Licence in terms of the Previous Act (download SAPS 517e form here) and take both completed forms with you so that the DFO can take the form s/he wants to take when you apply to transfer your green licence(s) to white licence(s). Also fill out a Correct Safe Declaration and submit with you application(s) (download form here)
12. Currently, however, we suggest you make sure of the status of all your licences (are they only green or are they only white), and that you have the correct and valid competency to apply for new licences for the firearms you have only green licences for. Remember one needs a valid competency when one applies for a new licence. We shall inform members of the correct SAPS procedure for transfer of green licences to white licences when SAPS issue a Directive in this regard.
