Plain-English guide · Updated August 2026
Regulation 21 is the training and assessment required of anyone who possesses a firearm for business purposes under the Firearms Control Act. If you carry a firearm because your job requires it — security officer, armed response, cash-in-transit, close protection — Regulation 21 applies to you.
It is separate from your competency certificate and separate from your firearm licence. It sits on top of them, and unlike them, it must be renewed every single year.
Anyone whose firearm is held for business purposes, and the company that employs them. That covers security officers on armed posts, armed response and patrol officers, cash-in-transit crews, close protection officers, and the security companies responsible for all of them.
It does not apply to a private owner who keeps a firearm for self-defence at home, or to a sport shooter or hunter. Those people need competency and a licence, not Regulation 21.
A theory component covering the Firearms Control Act as it applies to a business-purposes user — what you may do, what you may not, and what happens after a shooting incident. Then practical handling and live fire, assessed against the business-purposes unit standards for the firearm you carry: 123515 for handgun, 123511 for self-loading rifle, 123519 for manual-operated rifle, 123514 for shotgun.
It is a re-assessment, not a first course. You are demonstrating that you are still competent with the firearm you carry — which is precisely why it is annual.
This one causes constant confusion. Regulation 21 lists unit standards, but the assessment is not an award against those unit standards. So no SETA Statement of Results is issued for Regulation 21. You receive a Regulation 21 certificate, and that certificate is what an inspector wants to see.
If someone tells you your Regulation 21 file is incomplete without a Statement of Results, they have confused it with unit-standard training.
It lapses on its date, quietly, whether or not anyone reminds you. An officer working an armed post on an expired Regulation 21 is a problem for the officer and a bigger one for the employer, and it is the single most common gap found on a security-company inspection.
The fix is boring and effective: know the date, and book the re-assessment before it, not after.
We run Regulation 21 every Thursday at False Bay Firearm Shooting Range in Glencairn — handgun, shotgun, self-loading rifle and manual-operated rifle. Bookings are essential, and companies bringing more than 10 participants can arrange a discount.
We do the training. The SAPS application is a separate job — these guides on our sister site cover it.
Every year, without exception.
No. A competency certificate is issued by SAPS and lasts for years. Regulation 21 is an annual re-assessment for business-purposes firearm users, and it sits on top of your competency, not instead of it.
No. Regulation 21 lists unit standards but is not an award against them, so no Statement of Results is issued. You get a Regulation 21 certificate.
Yes, and it is the sensible way to do it. Thursdays at False Bay are set up for team bookings.
Bookings are essential — call or WhatsApp 065 967 1535, or email info@capetownfirearmtraining.co.za, and we will confirm a date and tell you exactly what to bring.