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the damage must be reported to the police and the incident must have
occurred in South Africa. For any policy holder to claim for damage
under their SASRIA cover, they will have to claim in the same way as
with any other claim from their own insurer. Their insurer will in turn liaise
directly with SASRIA on their behalf to ensure that the claim, if valid, is
paid out.

Although most policies include SASRIA cover, it would be advisable for
any short-term insurance policyholder to check their policy conditions
or inquire from their insurance broker whether they have SASRIA cover.

Lapsed firearm licence –
what is the current position?

July 2017

“I own a firearm which has always been validly licenced. I was
out of the country for a few months with work this year and
was unable to renew my licence before its expiry in June. On
my return I went to the police, but they told me that because
my licence was not timeously renewed it was now invalid
and that my possession of the firearm is now illegal. Is this the
case? Surely I have a valid excuse for not having renewed my
licence?”

Renewal of firearm licences is governed by section 24 of the Firearms
Control Act 60 of 2000 (“the Act”), which stipulates that the holder of
a firearm licence who wishes to renew his licence must apply to the
Registrar of Firearms (“the Registrar”) at least 90 days before the expiry
date. In a recent High Court judgment, the constitutionality of section
24 and section 28 dealing with the termination of a firearm licence, was
questioned.

It was contended in court that these sections caused confusion for
firearm owners in respect of their obligations under the Act, in that if a Litigation
person has not applied for renewal of his firearm licence and the 90
day period has lapsed, there is no way that he could renew or apply to
renew his firearm licence and was therefore in unlawful possession of
the firearm with no means to rectify the situation. Additionally, although
section 28 of the Act provides for amongst others, procedures for the
cancellation of a firearm licence and a declaration by the Registrar or a
Court that a firearm holder is unfit to possess a licence, the section does
not provide any process which ought to be followed by firearm owners
whose licences have terminated due to effluxion of time, nor does it
provide clarity as to how and where to surrender their firearm, should

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