Mkonto Manufacturing

Can government change a law before properly assessing its impact?

That is the question at the heart of the latest phase of Civil Society South Africa's Transparency Project.

Today, we submitted the next set of PAIA applications to obtain the complete socio-economic impact assessment (SEIAS) records behind the Draft Fi****ms Control Amendment Bill.

The only publicly available SEIAS document we have been able to identify is an initial assessment from 2016.

Was it ever followed by a final assessment?

If it was, what did it conclude?

If government wants to introduce legislation that could remove self-defence as a valid reason for firearm ownership, shouldn't South Africans be able to see the evidence and impact assessments that informed that decision?

Read our full media statement here:
🔗 https://civilsocietysouthafrica.co.za/cssa-seeks-answers-on-socio-economic-impact-assessment-behind-proposed-firearm-law/

What do you think?

Should government be required to publish the evidence and impact studies behind major legislative changes before they move forward? Tell us why in the comments.

Every month, millions of South Africans pay taxes expecting better roads, hospitals, schools, policing and basic services.

Yet many ask the same question..."Where does it all go?"

This cartoon reflects a frustration shared by many taxpayers, that too much public money is lost to waste, corruption, failed projects and rising debt while ordinary people continue to carry the burden.

If you could choose ONE thing your taxes should be spent on first, what would it be? 🇿🇦👇

Culling Elephants Isn’t The Problem.

If the land is over capacity, elephants have to come off it. That is not anti-elephant. That is conservation.

Daily Maverick reports that Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife told Parliament that 1,220 elephants need to be removed, with relocation unlikely for many of them.

That is a huge number, and it points to a serious management problem. Whether that happens through culling, relocation where possible, or some combination of legal tools, the bottom line is this: the land has a limit.

What hunters should be watching is whether any legal, transparent, revenue-generating hunting option is even being considered.

Nobody is saying elephant tags have been announced.

They have not.

But Ezemvelo has used hunting auctions before, so the question is fair: if lethal removal is coming anyway, why wouldn’t conservation value be part of the discussion?

Appreciate the South African outfitter who sent this over. We will not name him, but we appreciate him flagging it.

This is one to keep an eye on.

Sources: Daily Maverick; BidPro Ezemvelo KZN Online Hunting Auction April 2025; Ezemvelo Hunting Packages Catalogue 2025.

Shaun Kogut - Host Saltlick Sessions Podcast

People often declare that “original percussion caps were a lot hotter than the modern ones” and so I decided to investigate with some experimental archaeology…. and this legend is CONFIRMED!

The U.S. 1861 Ordnance Manual calls for percussion caps to be charged with one-half a grain of “percussion powder,” which was a mixture of fulminate of mercury and saltpeter.

Contrary to popular belief, mercury fulminate is not corrosive to iron guns. It works GREAT in percussion guns, but the fulminate was found to turn brass brittle, making it incompatible with modern brass cartridges.

So for experimental purposes I made some caps using the U.S. 1861 mercury fulminate mixture, and tested them alongside modern caps (CCI and RWS). The difference is astonishing. The 1861 caps are ear-ringing loud when snapped off by themselves, and can blow out a candle several feet in front of the muzzle.

I really really want to make a video about this experimental archaeology but it would be difficult or impossible to do, while also following the various social media policies and guidelines on this sort of stuff.

Animal Farm