FROM MARTIN HOOD
Hi All
Many of you may be aware of the situation concerning firearm training: the qualification expired on 30 June 2024 because the minister of education did not place it on a list of qualifications for extension.
The PFTC was appointed the quality assurer when the mandate was removed from SASSETA in 2013 due to the incompetence of SASSETA. This was tested and upheld in the Supreme Court Of Appeal and the PFTC mandate was upheld.
The QCTO and SASETA tried unsuccessfully to remove the mandate from PFTC in 2021 and ended up with a court order against them taken, it is to be emphasized by agreement.
Fast forward to 2024 and the PFTC had tried to have a new qualification accepted and to move forward with firearm training quality assurance. The qualification expired and the PFTC made an application to the minister before expiry to extend the qualification which was not answered.
As at 1 July no new enrolments for firearm training could take place which meant if you had not previously completed the training you could no longer do so and therefore no new applications could be made for competency certificates by anyone who had not completed the training before 30 June 2024.
The PFTC brought an urgent application to bridge the gap created by the failure to extend the qualification. This was vigorously opposed by the state respondents [ The QCTO, SASSETA and SAQA] on purely technical grounds such as a lack of urgency in the application. Be aware of this: none of these entities was forthcoming with what they had done to carry out their legal mandate and maintain a coherent educational system .
Put simply , this was suspicious and spoke to an undisclosed other agenda .
This afternoon, after argument, the presiding judge indicated he was going to grant in interim court order and invited the parties to present him with one.
The legal representatives could not agree because we asked for a simple extension of the status quo [ which is the purpose of an interim order] whilst the state representatives proposed an order that we believed was not in good faith and would allow the state parties to effectively disavow training after 30 June as valid.
After further argument , the judge accepted our proposal and extended the status quo until the minister makes a formal decision to extend or replace the qualification.
What happened afterwards was , in my opinion , shocking.
The state legal teams were , to put matters lightly , unimpressed and demanded that we all remain in court whilst they obtained instructions about an immediate urgent application for leave to appeal the interim order . Generally interim orders are not appealable. The whole demeanor of the state respondents changed when they effectively lost their challenge .
My interpretation of this conduct is that it was no mistake or oversight by any state functionary to not renew or extend the qualification , and such organs of state deliberately do not want any new training because this will effectively strangle firearm ownership: no new competencies , no new firearm owners.
It would seem another onslaught is about to commence against us. Martin Hood
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/8n1...ibextid=oFDknk
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/ymA...ibextid=oFDknk
*** This either means, no proficiency /competency / training, blocking it, disrupting it, keeping it in courts etc, means no more new firearm owners. OR there is a lot of money to be made by getting SASETTA (Government) to run it, so yes, losing is not an option as this will guarantee a very long milking scheme for the corrupt individuals involved, i.e gun control via administrative enforcement.
Please can you explain ... PFTC QCTO, SASSETA SAQA .. who are all these people ?
The Facebook links - not opening for me - I am not on facebook and do not intend joining !
WHERE do I find the info ?
What is the final outcome ?
Training can continue ?
Thanks
"corrupt individuals involved, i.e gun control via administrative enforcement ."
Surely this is exactly what it has been from the beginning ?
Quote from: Newton on Jul 12, 2024, 09:51 AMPlease can you explain ... PFTC QCTO, SASSETA SAQA .. who are all these people ?
The Facebook links - not opening for me - I am not on facebook and do not intend joining !
WHERE do I find the info ?
What is the final outcome ?
Training can continue ?
Thanks
https://youtu.be/2E3AuncrSiQ?si=wPTk7ZqkHWm7BR1b
https://pftc.co.za/newsletters/
Quote from: Newton on Jul 12, 2024, 09:55 AM"corrupt individuals involved, i.e gun control via administrative enforcement ."
Surely this is exactly what it has been from the beginning ?
Something pivotal happened this last week in the North Gauteng High Court.
Ostensibly it was a technical matter about a typical state department failing to provide service delivery... but it was far, far more than that.
It was the State attacking the foundation of firearms ownership in South Africa.
The communists have been trying to have private firearm ownership in SA banned since (at least) the Goldstone Commission hearings in 1992. Gun control (state control of all the guns) is a staple of communist dictatorship.
A) Citizens can no longer say "no",
B) Citizens become wholly dependent on the State for protection.
Staples of Communist (mis)rule.
And so the Communist South African state has worked steadily towards this goal of a disarmed and supplicant South Africa ever since.
The Firearms Control Act was foist upon us in 2000 and eventually partially implemented in 2004 to "reduce public access to firearms". It failed (and backfired) massively because citizens jumped through all the hoops the Act imposed. The number of firearm owners is now 2.3 Million... an all time high.
The South African regime has tried for the last 10 years to fix their problem with amendment bills using cooked-up facts and mangled statistics. All have been resisted.
Once @SafeCitizenSA unearthed the Wits School of Governance Report that the Secretary of Police had commissioned and then hidden from view (because it showed the opposite of what the Regime had hoped it would), the Amendment Bills were quietly shelved.
Now a new front in the war against the South African Citizen has been opened.
The Communist South African Government is attacking the foundation of gun ownership. They are going after the training qualifications that lead to the awarding of Competence... and licenses!
The FCA demands that all firearm owners must hold valid competencies in order to license firearms. Valid competencies are awarded by SAPS on the basis that a prospective firearm owner passes prescribed proficiency tests. These tests must meet the criteria
set out in the registered training qualification on the National Qualification Framework.
At the end of June 2024 the Minister of Higher Education deliberately allowed the training qualification to expire.
No training=no competence=no new firearm ownership!
Backdoor gun control!!!
The Quality Assessor for the firearms qualification is the only private/professional institution of its kind in South Africa... the South African Professional Firearms Training Council, the PFTC.
PFTC took the government to court in this last week.
PFTC won and order returning us to the pre-expiration (end June) status quo, pending the Minister making up her mind.
A win? Sure!
but...
The Minister is furious and can rule at any time that she has decided to NOT renew the training qualification. We would then be forced to take the Minister's decision on review.
THIS is the fight of the ages.
Last week the International Firearms Training Academy made a massive financial sacrifice to draw the Minister into the court challenge (costs were awarded against them).
We The People... need to stand up for each other now.
GOSA was the only party in court in support of PFTC and ITA.
This cannot happen again!!!
You, me, our organisations HAVE TO stand together.
Remember... no training=no competence=no new firearm owners!
---
GOSA
QuoteGOSA was the only party in court in support of PFTC and ITA.
I then do not understand why the original newsletter ( first post ) is from SAGA ( Martin Hood ) ?
Were they not present for the full legal procedure as well as the court case ?
Who are ... QCTO, SASSETA SAQA
Has that [old ] minister not been replaced because of GNU ?
QuoteThe communists have been trying to have private firearm ownership in SA banned since (at least) the Goldstone Commission hearings in 1992. Gun control (state control of all the guns) is a staple of communist dictatorship.
Is GFSA a communist front
or
Perhaps a NWO front ? ( György Schwartz ) and the Open Society foundation
Far as I know Putin says "communists" .. ALL dead ?
QuoteAt the end of June 2024 the Minister of Higher Education deliberately allowed the training qualification to expire.
Minister of Higher Education (South Africa) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_Higher_Education_(South_Africa))
Dr Nobuhle Nkabane Appointed 30th June 2024 in cabinet reshuffle by President Ramaphosa
Minster must have been frantically busy in first days in office scheming up ways to deprive citizens - including SAPS and private security companies of the ability to posses and use a firearm ?
Is said minister member of SACP ?
Please tell us the full and TRUE story ..
QuoteThe Gqeberha firearms dealer who faces a litany of charges relating to the Firearms Control Act, was denied bail in the Magistrates Court on Wednesday and will remain behind bars pending the finalisation of her trial.
The charges against Karen Webb, 40, include theft, conspiracy to smuggle firearms, fraud, the unlicensed trading of firearms, providing firearms and ammunition to persons who are not allowed to possess them, and defeating the ends of justice.
Karen Webb (https://www.algoafm.co.za/local/disgraced-firearms-dealer-karen-webb-denied-bail)
I understand a number of competency certificates offered by her company are now in question !
HOW was this allowed to happen ?
WHERE was the interest and action of the various internal ( private ) firearms regulatory bodies
Quote from: Newton on Jul 13, 2024, 05:23 PMQuoteGOSA was the only party in court in support of PFTC and ITA.
I then do not understand why the original newsletter ( first post ) is from SAGA ( Martin Hood ) ?
Were they not present for the full legal procedure as well as the court case ?
Who are ... QCTO, SASSETA SAQA
Has that [old ] minister not been replaced because of GNU ?
https://youtu.be/UtuzBnhU-Tc?si=zIvpNoHYkFxTiK0z
Maybe this video can explain it better
@Newton
Quote from: NoStepOnSnek88 on Jul 14, 2024, 05:57 PMhttps://youtu.be/UtuzBnhU-Tc?si=zIvpNoHYkFxTiK0z
Maybe this video can explain it better @Newton
Thanks
Unfortunately I am not seeing proof of a clear and unambiguous link proving ANC malfeasance in the case of depriving private citizens of legal ownership of firearms.
Perhaps there is but I have not seen it ?
Where is the formal government policy statement that illustrates this ?
Professional Firearm Trainers Council (PFTC)/QuoteInternational Training Academy (ITA) is South Africa's market leader in expert firearm training. ITA develops firearm training material and supplies this material to more than 260 ITA-accredited firearm training centres across South Africa.
QuoteAndre worked closely with Government in implementing the industry changes that were necessary when the Firearm Control Act (60/2000) was adopted in South Africa
TA Counsellors by appointment date (https://itafirearmtraining.com/about-us/)
Please see - 2023 = Jonathan Deal
I cannot understand why these people did not just oppose the firearms control act in its ENTIRETY ?
This whole Firearms Control Act setup and the legislation reminds me of nothing so much as the RPAV ( drone ) industry
Legislation guided by industry insiders so as to advantage themselves ( remuneration )
The Firearms control act has given rise to hundreds of "cottage-industries" and made a number of legal professionals quite wealthy
People "train" you for "competency" - write up your competency forms - write motivation letters for firearms applications
Act on your behalf for renewals - advise on refusals .. and so on and so forth
How many "professional bodies" are there involved in all the various aspects of firearms and the firearms industry ?
One wonders again about all these - "Professional Licensed Training Companies"QuoteJalel Harchaoui, an expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told Daily Maverick that according to his sources, the South African company providing the training – named as Milites Dei Security Services (MDSS) or Milites Dei Academy – had refused to conduct the training in Libya and insisted that the 95 trainees come to White River.
Quote"MDSS is registered with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA). On Friday, PSiRA announced that the week before it had learnt that MDSS "is allegedly conducting military-style training for, amongst others, Libyan nationals, on a farm in White River, Mpumalanga".
Libyans arrested at SA security training firm (https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-07-28-libyans-arrested-at-sa-security-training-firm-linked-to-group-trying-to-topple-un-backed-tripoli-government/)
ANY comment from Martin Hood (SAGA ) Paul Oxley ( GOSA ) ?
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/DisR1DoRoPpKiPwW/?mibextid=oFDknk
NlBreaking news...
Yesterday we were (hurriedly) invited to a meeting (this morning) by SASSETA and QCTO to discuss a 'new' training qualification or 'skills programme'.
This morning Monte and I attended and introduced ourselves - we were there on time. The meeting started late and the SASSETA presenters were technically ill-prepared. After half an hour of faltering introductions, PFTC and I raised a query about what the purpose of the meeting was since the agenda we had been sent (for a planned two day meeting) was almost entirely blank...
Things rapidily went south from there.
The facilitator, a Ms Amod from SASSETA, adopted a confrontational and arrogant attitude with Tebogo almost from the start. SHE was GOVERNMENT... we... were mere chattels of the state and should shut up and follow instructions. She was followed by several other parties from SASSETA, QCTO, and even some trainers who were quite obviously planted in the audience to trot out the company line.
At 10am I was asked to leave the meeting as I was being obstructive by continually questioning why we were there.
Monte and I left.
It is quite clear that the die is cast. There WILL be a new training qualification or skills development programme, and PFTC will NOT be part of it.
PFTC left immediately after us.
We WILL NOT be lectured to by government who can't keep their own house in order!
I made the point that I have been a registered trainer in terms of the FCA for more than 20 years and well remember the days of SASSETA control.
Note... the photo was taken inside the venue at about quarter to 9... After we were supposed to be there at 8. The folk from SASSETA wandered in just before 9 and spent about a half hour setting up their online participant platform.
Professionalism on display!
No, it's not good news.
It does give us prior warning, though.
Yes.
We are starting to join the dots.
I will publish an article explaining some of the picture that we see emerging, and an analysis.
The short conclusion is that it's not all bad news.
Quote from: NoStepOnSnek88 on Aug 07, 2024, 12:06 PMhttps://www.facebook.com/share/p/DisR1DoRoPpKiPwW/?mibextid=oFDknk
We are starting to join the dots.
I will publish an article explaining some of the picture that we see emerging, and an analysis.
The short conclusion is that it's not all bad news.
Perhaps all of this should have been done when the initial firearms legislation was first proposed ( way back when )
Perhaps you could publish an article covering the full and detailed history of the FCA - who proposed it / who was involved / who opposed it / who co-operated / how it managed to pass .. into law ?
Afternoon All
There was a second urgent application launched by the PFTC to interdict various state role players such as the QCTO and SASSETA from developing a skills program to replace the current firearm training qualification.
In simple terms the current training takes 2 to 3 days in order to be trained to apply for a competency certificate. A skills programme must , by law , be a minimum of two weeks long.
Many problems become immediately apparent. Very few people can afford to take two weeks off work to qualify to obtain a competency certificate and the cost would increase proportionately to the amount of time required. Trainers have also indicated that there is not enough training material or training required to fill two weeks.
The PFTC raised concerns that the state role players do not have a legal mandate to quality assure firearm training which vests in the PFTC by virtue of the 11 July court order and that policy and consultative requirements had been circumvented by the QCTO and SASSETA.
The judge ruled the application was not urgent and struck the matter from the roll and gave what we perceive to be a mild cost order. He excluded the cost of a second advocate and gave costs on a lower than normal scale. He did so because he indicated in argument that although the matter was not urgent, there may be contempt of the 11 July court order and that he had serious concerns with both the rationale for the skills program and the manner in which the state roll players had gone about trying to development the skills program when there was no apparent need for it and in the absence of a satisfactory explanation why it was needed.
We will be back again in court shortly.
Latest update from Martin Hood.
Morning All
Happy New year . My first post for the year is not a happy one.
Two important issues need to be discussed and I will start with the first, firearm training.
Many of you are aware , and I summarise , of the function of the PFTC is quality assuring firearm training.
If you have a competency certificate, you would have been trained by an accredited training institution who , upon successful completion , would submit your results to the PFTC who verify and quality assure the training and issue a statement of results.
A comparison is Umalusi who do exactly the same for matric exams.
This system has been in place since 2013 and is self funding and because it is not government run, has much less fraud and corruption.
The firearm training qualification 50480 expired in June last year , like many thousands of others and was not extended. The PFTC had submitted a new qualification but , typically of organs of state , SASSETA and the QCTO were too busy at the feeding trough to approve it.
We obtained a court order extending the qualification pending the finalisation and registration of a new qualification , and the litigation is pending, again with government and organs of state doing everything possible to delay getting into court , aided and abetted by highly paid [ by you] private lawyers.
The proposed solution , from SASSETA and the QCTO , which involves taking away the quality assurance function from the PFTC and putting it , presumably back inhouse to SASSETA , is a skills development program to replace the qualification.
You might think " OK, so what? "
Here's the issue. It is proclaimed educational policy that a skills development program must be a minimum of two weeks long .
Before any of you say "no way , it won't happen" , it is .
I have draft documents from SASSETA, on a QCTO letterhead for the proposed " Handgun handler for private use" skills program which is set at NQF level three and requires 10 credits. The equivalent program for business use of a handgun is 11 credits. A credit is equal to 10 hours of notional learning.
If this proposed program becomes the legal requirement for training for firearm possession [ and saps have bought into the process, because I have Legal Services comments on the program that make it clear that they want it to be ] it means as follows.
A new applicant for a competency certificate [ ie who has never previously had one] to possess one type of firearm, for example a handgun , must do two weeks training because a credit is 10 hours of notional learning and 10 credits equals 100 hours of learning which equals 10 days. For one category of firearm .
If you want to obtain business use training for all four categories of firearm possession , ie handgun rifle, shotgun, semiauto rifle /PCC my calculation adds up to 800 hours of training or 16 weeks of training.
Think about who can afford to and has the time do this and what the consequences will be for firearm ownership.
From Martin Hood's WhatsApp group.
Important post this - VERY !
Quote from: Treeman on Jan 10, 2025, 09:15 PMImportant post this - VERY !
Indeed it is, many will brush this off as hearsay or non of a concern.
Gunsite Forum https://www.gunsite.co.za/forums/showthread.php?111246-PFTC-The-Professional-Firearms-Trainers-Council/page3
Mybroadband forum:https://mybroadband.co.za/forum/threads/pftc-the-professional-firearms-trainers-council.1298468/post-33576410