By virtue of the powers vested in me by section 139(1) of the Firearms Control Act, 2000 (Act No.60 of 2000), I, Charles Nqakula, Minister for Safety and Security, hereby declare an amnesty as defined in section 138 of the said Act. Under section 1 39(2)(b) of the Firearms Control Act, 2000, I determine the period during which persons may apply for amnesty to commence on 1 January 2005 until 31 March 2005. Under section 139(2)(c) of the Firearms Control Act, 2000,1 determine the conditions under which amnesty be granted, to be as follows:

1. a written application for amnesty by an applicant must be handed in at a police station and the application must state the full names, identity number and residential address of the applicant, as well as the type, caliber, make model and all marked serial numbers or other identification marks on the firearm or particulars of the ammunition;
2. the firearm or ammunition concerned must be surrendered by the applicant to a member of the South African Police Service on duty at any police station and such a member must issue a receipt in respect of such firearm or ammunition to the applicant; and
3. the applicant for amnesty must, when surrendering the firearm or ammunition, notify the relevant Designated Firearms Officer in writing if he or she intends to apply for a licence to possess the firearm or ammunition, as contemplated in section 139(4) of the Firearms Control Act, 2000 and lodge the application within 14 days from the date on which the firearm or ammunition was surrendered (the relevant Designated Firearms Officer has the meaning assigned to it in the Firearms Control Regulations, 2004, and particulars of the nearest Designated Firearms Officer may be obtained from any police station).

I further determine that the South African Police Service must act in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 93(4)(a) of the Firearms Control Regulations, 2004, if an application contemplated in paragraph (c) is not duly lodged or not lodged within the specified period and test all firearms surrendered in terms of this amnesty ballistically.

C NQAKULA

Minister for Safety and Security