DA demands withdrawal of PSiRA firearm regulations and Firearms Control Amendment Bill

On 1 July 2026, Ian Cameron MP, the DA's Deputy Spokesperson on Police, called for the proposed PSiRA regulation amendments and the Firearms Control Amendment Bill to be withdrawn and reconsidered in full, in a statement published by the party.

The PSiRA regulation amendments were gazetted on 28 March 2025 and would place further burdens on private security providers in relation to the issuing, carrying, storage, tracking and use of firearms.

The DA argues the amendments risk duplicating existing firearm controls, increasing compliance costs, and weakening armed-response capacity in the private security sector. The statement says the Firearms Control Amendment Bill was rejected by the large majority of participants in the NEDLAC process.

The party cited roughly R600 million in government spending on security measures linked to the 30 June 2026 events as evidence of the state's reliance on layered security capacity, and also raised concerns about PSiRA's governance and corruption allegations against the regulator.

"South Africa's crime crisis will not be solved by weakening lawful people and lawful industries," Cameron said.

Source: Democratic Alliance, 1 July 2026 - da.org.za (also carried by politicsweb.co.za)