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Proficiency certificate or competency certificate: what is the difference?

They sound like the same thing and people use the words loosely, but they come from two different places. The training provider proves you passed. SAPS then decides whether you are competent to own a firearm.

The short answer

	Proof of proficiency	Competency certificate
Who issues it	An accredited firearm training provider	SAPS (the Central Firearms Register)
What it is called	Statement of Results, proficiency certificate or SASSETA certificate	SAPS 524 competency certificate
What it proves	You passed the training and assessment for a firearm type	SAPS found you fit and proper and competent to possess that type
How you get it	Do the course and pass the assessment	Apply on the SAPS 517 with your proof of proficiency
Is it enough to buy a firearm?	No	It lets you apply for a licence, which is a separate application

Step 1: proficiency, from the training provider

You do the training with a SAPS accredited training provider. There is a legal knowledge part (the Firearms Control Act) and a practical part for each firearm type you want: handgun, shotgun, manually operated rifle or self-loading rifle. You are assessed against registered unit standards.

When you pass, the provider gives you written proof. Different providers call it different things: a Statement of Results, a proficiency certificate, or a SASSETA certificate. They do the same job: they prove which unit standards you passed. That paper goes into your competency application.

Step 2: competency, from SAPS

With your proof of proficiency in hand you apply to SAPS for a competency certificate on the SAPS 517, at the Designated Firearms Officer (DFO) of the police station where you live. SAPS runs a background check, looks at your declarations and your references, and decides whether you are a fit and proper person. If it approves, you receive the SAPS 524 competency certificate for the firearm types you were assessed on.

Passing the course does not guarantee the competency. The training says you can handle a firearm safely. The competency says SAPS is satisfied you should be allowed to.

Step 3: the licence

Only once the competency is granted can you apply for a licence for one specific firearm, on the SAPS 271, under the right section of the Act. See firearm licence sections explained.

Adding a firearm type later

If your competency covers a handgun and you now want a rifle, you do the rifle training, get the proof of proficiency for it, and apply for a further competency on the SAPS 517(a). You do not redo the legal knowledge part if you already passed it.

Renewing

A competency certificate lasts as long as the licence it relates to, and it is renewed on the SAPS 517(g). Renew the licence and the competency together. More in renewing your competency on the SAPS 517(g).

This is general information about South African firearm law and SAPS procedure, not legal advice, and we are not SAPS. Where your situation is unusual, a past conviction, a pending case, a firearm inherited from a deceased estate, speak to a firearms attorney.

Frequently asked questions