South Africa has declared an amnesty on illegal guns in its latest drive to tackle the high level of violent crime, the South African Press Association reported on Friday. The three-month amnesty, due to start in October but delayed to allow more planning, will run from January 1 to March 31. People may hand in unlicensed guns free from prosecution unless the gun is found to have been used to commit a crime, SAPA quoted a security ministry statement as saying.

Since democratic elections in 1994 marked the end of apartheid, the high level of violent crime has tarnished South Africa's international image, tales of gang rapes and armed street robberies frightening foreign tourists.

The authorities have carried out a series of operations to track down and destroy illegal guns, and the number of reported murders fell below 20,000 in the year to March 2004 - the lowest annual total for a decade.

But the murder rate of 42.7 per 100,000 people is still high by international standards, though experts discourage detailed comparisons because reporting practices and data quality differ from country to country. National police chief Jackie Selebi has pledged to use his post as head of Interpol to fight against the spread of guns in South Africa and abroad.

The government estimated in 1999 that there were half a million illegal guns in South Africa, many of them stolen from the state, legitimate holders or police officers or smuggled in from nearby countries hit by civil war.

Copyright Reuters, 2005