Acting national police chief Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi confirmed this week that a task team was looking at the feasibility of granting competency certificates to policemen who pass tests for only one of the firearms.
Until now, a competency certificate was only issued if they passed a theoretical and practical test using a handgun, shotgun and an assault rifle.
The Sunday Times reported in March that more than 27 000 policemen had failed their firearms tests. Mkhwanazi said this week that 27 400 members of the SA Police Service "are not yet competent" in using firearms - including 20 864 who "did not fail" but had not completed their training.
He said only 6 536 members had failed their tests and had to do remedial training and be re-assessed.
This week Mkhwanazi had to withdraw a directive to remove the firearms of members who were not declared competent after his instruction sparked outrage among policemen and members of the Hawks in Gauteng, many of whom had been disarmed.
The new plan, Mkhwanazi told the Sunday Times, was to fit the firearm competency to the type of police work - with task force members having to be competent in at least two types of rifles, as well as a handgun, shotgun, sub-machine gun and machine gun, and detectives, for example, having no need for a competency certificate for a shotgun.
He said divisional commissioners were asked to find out the minimum firearm requirements for each of the categories of employment.
"By the end of this financial year, every member must be competent in use of a firearm."
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