Small arms to be destroyed

South Africa said on Thursday it planned to destroy all surplus small arms because it was concerned at the “devastating effect” of the proliferation of small arms in the sub-continent.

The announcement was made in a statement by the foreign ministry following a meeting of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC).

“In accordance with the government’s policy on non-proliferation and arms control, the NCACC decided that redundant small arms in the possession of the South African government be destroyed rather than sold on a tender basis as done previously,” it said.

It also cited “grave concern about the proliferation of small arms which is having a devastating effect on the socio-economic development and reconstruction of civil societies in Southern Africa”.

The statement said South African police had already started destroying arms worth an estimated US $18 million. NCACC chairman Kaider Asmal said the decision “forms part of the government’s strategy to curtail the excessive and destabilising accumulation of small arms. The magnitude of the problem is of such a nature that it can only be addressed through appropriate national, regional and international action.”