NHSA NEWSLETTER
VOL. 16 (49) - 10-09-2020
THE END OF GREEN LICENCES IN SIGHT
Dear Member,
1. The State Attorney has informed SA Hunters that the Minister of Police wants to have the interim order in the 2009 SA Hunters court case, set aside.
2. The 2009 interim court order in the SA Hunters court case ordered that all green licences would remain valid until the main court case had been heard. The main court case has over the past 11 years not been heard. That is the reason why the State Attorney has by order of the Minister of Police written the letter to SA Hunters on this matter.
3. SA Hunters have not yet indicated how they will react to the Minister’s request; be that by merely indicating that they will not oppose it, or that SA Hunters will oppose the matter in court.
4. Be that as it may, please take serious note that the warning and advice we gave members on 21 August 2020 in Newsletter Vol. 16(47), has now become reality.
5. The letter of the State Attorney, irrespective of how SA Hunters choose to react to the Minister’s request, means that people who have only green licences for firearms in their possession, should as quickly as they can:
(a) make sure they do the correct proficiency training related to the types of firearms they own at a training provider who is accredited with PFTC otherwise your training certificates will not be accepted by SAPS (please try and do this proficiency training within the next three weeks to give yourself enough time to receive competency so that you can apply for a new white licence before the court sets aside the 2009 interim order);
(b) make sure they apply for the correct competencies for the types of firearms they hold only green licences for so that you can apply for new white licences, or apply for those competencies you need (i.e. a competency to own handguns, and/or rifles, and/or shotguns, and/or semi-auto rifles);
(c) make sure they have dedicated status if they have more than 4 firearms with green licences, or a semi-auto shotgun or a semi-auto rifle - you will have to receive dedicated hunting status with an accredited hunting association or dedicated sports-person status with an accredited sports shooting association before you will be able to apply for new white licences for those firearms even if you have the correct competencies (Natshoot presents both courses), and;
7. As we do not yet know how SA Hunters will react to the Minister's request, we cannot at this stage indicate a time frame within which the process of rescinding the 2009 interim court order will take place. All we can say is that one should understand that getting green licences converted to white licences for those firearms you only have green licences for, is seriously urgent.
8. If the court decides to set aside the 2009 interim order, green licences will on that day become invalid and holders of firearms for which they only have green licences will be in illegal possession of such firearms.
9. SAPS will probably take between 4 and 6 months to evaluate competency applications. That is why we advise that you do the proficiency training as soon as you possibly can (if you have to), so that you have time to submit applications for new white licences if you have to before the final day on which the court makes its ruling on the matter.
10. In discussions with learned legal persons, it was quite clear that there is very little chance that the court will decide not to set the 2009 interim court order aside. It is thus better to assume that the court will decide to set aside the 2009 interim order, as we do not know what other counter court cases could be lodged against the Minister’s request to have the 2009 interim order set aside. It is thus a matter of time and of when, not if, the interim order will be set aside.
11. We urge all our members to please inform friends and people they know of this situation regarding green licences, so that they are not caught up in a bad situation with the firearms they would want to continue owning.
12. We shall inform members the moment we have confirmation of SAPS filing court documents for the case, as that should give us a reasonable indication of the time it might take before the case is heard in court.
Kind Regards, Natshoot Office
The posting of this Newsletter communicated to all members via Email on 10 September 2020