 'Allowing police to shoot to kill would lead to anarchy, Nicro said' |
Cape Town - Allowing police to shoot to kill would lead to anarchy, Nicro said on Thursday.
It was reacting to President Jacob Zuma's endorsement this week of the shoot-to-kill approach, and his comments on the rights of criminals.
The National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders said it did not deny that crime was out of control in South Africa. Ways clearly had to be found to deal with it effectively.
"But our salvation will be in doing this within the parameters based on the values and principles of our Constitution," the non-governmental organisation said in a statement.
"Shooting to kill can only bring anarchy, and if that is the intention of the shooter, it is tantamount to a law enforcement officer being an investigator, prosecutor and judge, and meting out the death penalty."
It was not clear why, when law enforcement officers' lives were threatened, they should not shoot to disarm. They should be trained to be "sharp shooters".
The group maintained that a shoot-to-kill policy did not deter criminals from committing crime.
It just strengthened their resolve to shoot first, use higher calibre weapons and shoot their victims to avoid identification, Nicro said.
- SAPA
At least the 2000Ad comic book depiction of such law has fail-safes built in:
It was reacting to President Jacob Zuma's endorsement this week of the shoot-to-kill approach, and his comments on the rights of criminals.
The National Institute for Crime Prevention and the Reintegration of Offenders said it did not deny that crime was out of control in South Africa. Ways clearly had to be found to deal with it effectively.
"But our salvation will be in doing this within the parameters based on the values and principles of our Constitution," the non-governmental organisation said in a statement."Shooting to kill can only bring anarchy, and if that is the intention of the shooter, it is tantamount to a law enforcement officer being an investigator, prosecutor and judge, and meting out the death penalty."
It was not clear why, when law enforcement officers' lives were threatened, they should not shoot to disarm. They should be trained to be "sharp shooters".
The group maintained that a shoot-to-kill policy did not deter criminals from committing crime.
It just strengthened their resolve to shoot first, use higher calibre weapons and shoot their victims to avoid identification, Nicro said.
- SAPA
At least the 2000Ad comic book depiction of such law has fail-safes built in:
A Judge's personal gear includes a "Lawgiver" handgun (DNA-coded to recognize his palm-print alone and capable of firing six types of bullets), a daystick, a bootknife, and a uniform with a helmet that obscures all of his face except for his mouth and jaw.
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Police have gunned down an innocent woman and left two men seriously injured after they mistook them for a gang of hijackers.
The mistake, which claimed the life of Olga Kekana, 29, of Stinkwater near Pretoria, occurred while the three were driving with an SA Air Force captain through Mabopane to buy alcohol during the early hours of yesterday.
Among the injured is an air force pilot.
The shooting, which happened around 1am, comes as the government prepares to amend section 49 of the act that governs when police may use lethal force. Currently, police may use lethal force only when their lives or those of civilians are in danger...
The Star
"The police left us to die. They shot us, stopped for seconds and then just drove off."
These were the harrowing words of SA Air Force pilot Captain Simon Mathibela, who, along with three friends, survived a bloody attack by police that left a Pretoria woman dead.
Olga Kekana was shot through the head Yesterday, as details emerged of the circumstances of the police shooting, President Jacob Zuma's spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, said the president was "obviously disturbed" after police fatally shot an innocent woman mistaken for a hijacker.
"But it would not be accurate to attribute what happened to what the president has said," he added.
Asked whether Zuma's tough stance on crime could lead to police acting recklessly, Magwenya said it could not. "The president was very clear in his pronouncement that police can only act when under attack."
'They didn't even stop to help'
Police from the Soshanguve Dog Unit, Rietgat police station and Pretoria Flying Squad were on the lookout for a grey Toyota Conquest that had been hijacked between Rosslyn and Ga-Rankuwa the previous evening.
Unbeknown to the four, as they drove in Mathibela's grey Toyota Conquest, the police were after them. Within seconds of two police vehicles flashing their emergency lights at the four, at least 13 gunshots were fired. It is believed that eight policemen opened fire with their R-5s and 9mm pistols, riddling Mathibela's car with 13 bullet holes.
At least one of the three shots fired through the car's back window and right-back passenger window struck Kekana, killing her almost instantly.
Two bullets ripped into Singo's thigh and left hand, while one tore through Kgagara's back and chest.
Despite Singo putting on the vehicle's emergency hazard lights and Mathibela stopping his car and waving his military identity document to stop the attack, the police allegedly continued firing.
It is believed they stopped firing only when they realised that the vehicle registration did not match that of the hijacked vehicle and that two of the occupants were women.
In a twist of fate, the hijacked vehicle was found abandoned about 500m away.
Singo, speaking from his Dr George Mukhari Hospital bed, said that within moments of realising they had made a mistake, the police in the two vehicles who had shot at them drove off.
"They didn't even stop to help. They just left us. They could see that Olga was dying. They could see blood everywhere. They could see that we were not the people they were looking for," said Mathibela.
Mathibela said they did not know "what the hell was happening".
"Within seconds of seeing the blue lights, bullets were ripping into us. The warning shot, which was definitely meant to kill, was the shot that killed Olga.
"There was no high-speed chase. There were no sirens. They didn't give us time to stop. They just shot, and when they realised we were the wrong people, they left us," Mathibela said.
He said the only police who stopped were some of the officers from the Flying Squad, who had been close behind the policemen who shot them.
"When they reached us, they asked us who we were, if we were okay and what had happened. When they realised we were the wrong people, they kept on saying sorry.
"The police action is disgusting. They have not even gone to our families to say sorry," he said.
Describing how Kekana had died, Singo, who was sitting next to her, said that as she turned around to see what was happening, she was shot in the head.
"She just fell over. I could hear her dying, but I couldn't do anything," Singo said.
Acting National Police Commissioner Magda Stander declined to comment, "as we might jeopardise the investigation".
Independent Complaints Directorate spokesman Moses Dlamini confirmed they were investigating allegations that some of the policemen had driven off moments after the shooting...
- The Star
He had to be killed, Kangaroo Cops tell Court
One of nine police officers charged with the beating to death of an 18-year-old suspect, allegedly claimed he had to be killed because he was a cop-killer, the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court heard on Monday.
Two state witnesses, whose identities were withheld, revealed in statements how the suspect, Luvuyo Mnyanda, was brutally attacked by police officers, some in uniform and others plainclothed, two weeks ago.
Both witnesses saw Mnyanda being chased, they heard gunshots and saw him being kicked and punched. One said Mnyanda was trampled and the other stated he was shot at while lying on the ground.
One of the witnesses said Thozama Ndlebe, a 30-year-old policewoman, had said Mnyanda should die because he killed the police. Ndlebe denied this.
She and her seven colleagues faced charges of murder, assault, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice.
- Cape Times
he police have already lost 437 more firearms than the 2 507 that went missing last year, “losing” the equivalent of three firearms at each police station in the country.
By September 30, 2 944 SA Police Service firearms were unaccounted for and the country is now bracing for a “massive rise” in missing weapons. Last year’s figures already amount to a shocking 30,4% increase, compared to 2007’s 1 923 missing police guns.
“How is it even possible to lose a firearm?” asked Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard yesterday. “This dire state of affairs is completely unacceptable.”
Barnard questioned the point of forcing strict firearm legislation on members of the public when the police were “losing their firearms in droves” at the same time.
Kohler-Barnard said her party also had information showing more and more police officers failing to hand in service weapons when they left the employ of the police. In 2006, just seven police officers had failed to hand in their service weapons; this number rose to 40 in 2007, and 65 last year.
According to Kohler-Barnard, the police have recovered 100% of civilian firearms lost during the year, plus 6% of civilian firearms lost in the previous year. At the same time, however, they had only managed to recover 15% of lost SAPS firearms.
“It is the lost police weapons that are in the hands of SA’s criminals,” said Kohler-Barnard, adding she intends to urge Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to urgently place the matter on his agenda, so rectifying measures can be implemented. - The Citizen
Police bosses cost taxpayer R7m
Cape Town - Only five months have passed since their appointments, but the expensive tastes of the top officials in the Department of Police have already cost the taxpayer more than R7m.
Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, his deputy, Fikile Mbalula, and Commissioner Bheki Cele, the national police chief, have spent huge amounts of money on official cars, five-star hotel accommodation and a luxury official residence.
Mthethwa and Mbalula already came under fire for their hotel accommodation - which cost more than R800 000 - and their expensive official cars.
But it was the R3.3m official residence of the national police chief, which really sent tongues wagging.
Beeld reported last week that government was buying a house for Cele in Waterkloof Ridge in Pretoria, even though official residences were available elsewhere in Pretoria.
Dianne Kohler-Barnard, the DA spokesperson on police matters, pointed out that the amount of R7.1m that had been spent so far, could in fact be higher as the police department still had to answer some parliamentary questions.
This included the amount spend on renovations to Mthethwa's official residence, an analysis of how much officials spent on departmental credit cards, and the cost of events and imbizos.
"Let's hope the answers that are to be provided, show that the department is able to spend money sensibly - in contrast to the extravagance of the top officials," said Kohler-Barnard.
- Die Burger
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