Campaign 05 · Access to information
The Transparency Project
Forcing the light where they hide the truth.
We use PAIA, PAJA and every civil rights mechanism available to extract, analyse and publish the government data South Africans are entitled to see, on farm attacks, firearm accountability, rural safety and self-defence rights.
The problem
Government holds the data. Citizens pay the price.
Policy that removes rights should rest on evidence. In South Africa it frequently rests on assertion. The records that would prove or disprove the case are held by the state, and much of what matters has simply never been published.
Every figure below is published only where a primary source can be cited. Where government has not published the data, we say so and name the body that holds it. That absence is not a gap in our research. It is the finding.
Every record we publish is sourced. Every claim we make is traceable.
Back the ProjectOur approach
Turning opacity into public pressure, and measurable accountability.
The Transparency Project systematically extracts, analyses and publishes government information on rural safety, farm attacks, firearm accountability and self-defence rights.
- Formal applications under PAIA, not press statements.
- Every record published with its source attached.
- Refusals, delays and non-responses documented and published.
- Escalation to the Information Regulator and the courts where required.
This is how we hold the state to the standard it owes every citizen.
First wave
Where we are filing first.
Civilian Secretariat for Police Service
The first PAIA application, seeking the policy documents, research, crime statistics, legal opinions and consultation records relied on in developing the Firearms Control Amendment Bill.
South African Police Service (SAPS)
Submitted alongside the Secretariat application, seeking the operational and statistical evidence SAPS holds on the Bill's development.
Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
One of two institutions responsible for the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment System (SEIAS). We are seeking the draft and final assessments, supporting research and internal reviews for this Bill.
The Presidency
The second SEIAS institution, seeking documentation on whether the Bill was permitted to proceed with or without a completed, satisfactory socio-economic impact assessment.
A government that cannot show its evidence is not governing. It is asserting.
The process
From incident to accountability.
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01
Identify the threat
We track the legislation, policy and incidents that put rural and personal safety at risk.
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02
Extract via PAIA
We file formal PAIA and PAJA applications to compel disclosure of the underlying government data.
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03
Analyse and publish
Our team verifies the records and publishes them in plain language, with the sources attached.
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04
Activate and escalate
We mobilise citizen pressure and pursue legal escalation where government refuses to answer.
The public record
The Transparency Hub.
Everything we have filed and published to date. This list grows as applications are answered, refused, or ignored.
- Open letter to the Acting Minister of Police on the Firearm Control Amendment Bill
- Second set of PAIA applications: the socio-economic impact assessment behind the proposed firearm law
- Launch: four PAIA applications on the evidence behind the proposed firearm law
- The Transparency Project: the what, the how, and why it matters to South Africans
Straight answers
What people ask us.
What does the Firearms Control Amendment Bill change about my right to self-defence?
South African law currently recognises self-defence as a ground for a firearm licence under section 13 of the Firearms Control Act 60 of 2000. The Bill proposes removing self-defence as a lawful motivation for owning a firearm.
A Bill is not law. As at July 2026 the Bill is before NEDLAC, it has not been tabled in Parliament, and it was rejected by the majority of participants in the NEDLAC process. The Civilian Secretariat for Police Service has told Parliament it may require reconsideration.
Note also that a licence governs lawful possession. The common-law right of private defence is a separate question and is not abolished by a licensing change.
How many firearms has SAPS lost or had stolen?
3 433 SAPS firearms were reported lost or stolen between 2019 and 2024, of which 3 213 were stolen and 220 were lost. 559 were recovered, leaving 2 874 unaccounted for.
These figures come from the Minister of Police in reply to a question in the National Assembly, reported on 3 December 2025. Firearms recorded as "unaccounted for" in stocktakes are a separate and usually larger category, addressed in Auditor-General findings.
How is a farm attack legally classified?
"Farm attack" is not a distinct offence in South African law. It is an administrative classification used by SAPS for reporting and resource allocation under the National Rural Safety Strategy.
Incidents are charged and prosecuted as ordinary crimes: murder, attempted murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, housebreaking, assault and rape. The classification excludes domestic violence, liquor-related incidents and commonplace social disputes. Case outcome data is not published alongside the incident counts.
What happens after a PAIA request is refused?
A refusal can be express, or it can be a deemed refusal where the body simply fails to decide in time. Either way the route is the same: a formal internal appeal to the relevant authority, then a complaint to the Information Regulator, and then an application to court for review, ordinarily after internal remedies are exhausted.
Reasons must be given for a refusal. We publish every refusal and every non-response we receive. This is general information about the process and not legal advice.
Why do some of your figures say "not published"?
Because we will not publish a number we cannot trace to a primary document. Where the state holds data and has not released it, we say so and name the body that holds it.
An advocacy campaign that invents figures to fill a gap forfeits the right to demand evidence from anyone else. The empty tiles on this page are the argument, not an oversight.
Back the Transparency Project
The right to know is not optional.
Add your name to the mandate behind these applications. Every registration strengthens the public interest case when government refuses to answer.
Other ways to back this work
Support the work
PAIA applications, legal escalation and publication cost money. A monthly contribution keeps the filings coming.
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View banking detailsWhen government says no.
Internal appeal
Where a public body refuses or ignores a PAIA request, the first step is a formal internal appeal to the relevant information officer.
Information Regulator complaint
If the internal appeal fails, we escalate to the Information Regulator, South Africa's oversight body for access to information.
PAJA judicial review
Where administrative conduct is unlawful, irrational or procedurally unfair, we pursue judicial review under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.
Public pressure and escalation
Every refusal, delay and non-response is documented and published. Sustained public pressure is a legitimate and necessary complement to legal action.