Police Minister Bheki Cele said fighting crime has also come at a cost for members of the SAPS. PIcture: Supplied
A TOTAL of 22 police officers were killed in the country between July and September, down from the 24 killed during the same period in 2021.
Releasing the crime statistics before the police portfolio committee on Wednesday, Major-General Norman Sekhukhune said the number of recorded police officers killed during the period was down by two compared to last year.
Sekhukhune said 18 officers were killed while off-duty and four others were on-duty.
Addressing the media afterwards, Police Minister Bheki Cele said fighting crime has come at a cost for members of the SAPS across the country.
“It is on this note that this Ministry will never stop calling on SAPS members to defend themselves at all times from ruthless criminals whenever they are under attack. It is quite simple: police must meet fire with fire,” Cele said.
His comment came almost a week after he told officers in Mitchells Plain to “shoot first and ask questions later”.
His statement drew criticism from interest groups and political parties.
DA MP Andrew Whitfield said Cele's “reckless” statement was incitement to commit violence.
“This is a criminal offence. The DA will refer this statement to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for investigation and to take the appropriate action. It is very likely that police officers will take these words of the Minister quite literally, and when they, in fact, kill someone indiscriminately, it will be murder,” Whitfield said.
He also said his party believed that Cele violated the Executive Members' Code of Conduct and that they would request the Public Protector to investigate a possible breach of the code.
Responding to Whitfield at the press conference on Wednesday, however, Cele said the police worked under constitutional democracy and human rights dispensation.
“They must take that on board whenever,” he said.
Cele also said policing of community protests should be completely different when it comes to training and tactics.
“Where police use shields and end up using water and all other things, there should be a minimum kind of injury when you deal with those people. We encourage that.”
He also said there was policing that did not need negotiations.
“When people plan cash-in-transit heist, they don’t carry brooms, sticks and yellow dusters. They carry guns and are for elimination of anybody who stands in their way. Therefore, the police must be able to respond accordingly,” he said, adding that the police should protect themselves when responding to scenes of cash-in-transit heists as the criminals were ready to shoot and kill.
Cele said the killing of officers opened space for late response and very reduced visibility where police could have been there instead of coming late because they were few.