Parliament | Tuesday
A CONTROVERSIAL law limiting the use of force when arresting suspects is to be implemented, despite vehement opposition from Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete and the South African Police Service.
Justice Minister Penuell Maduna told a parliamentary briefing on Monday that Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which has been held in abeyance since adopted by Parliament in 1998, would be implemented.
The old section which is still in force is the subject of a Constitutional Court challenge.
Rather than wait for the court’s final conclusion, the new Section 49 would be implemented, Maduna said.
He left open the possibility that if the section was unworkable, his ministry would return to Parliament to change the law if required.
Maduna emphasised his department was not at odds with its safety and security counterpart.
Speaking at the same briefing, Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete told journalists he was resigned to the implementation of the section after Maduna tried to persuade him to accept the section.
”It’s there. There is nothing I can do about it. All I can do is talk to the men and women in blue.”
Tshwete said he wanted the old section 49 to stand, especially against the backdrop of ”massive violent assaults against the police”.
Deputy Safety Minister Joe Matthews was also critical of the amended section.
In an attempt to escape from the apartheid past, in which police could ”just shoot”, the pendulum had swung too far in the opposite direction, creating difficulties for the police, he said.
The section curtails the use of force in effecting arrests.
National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi is also opposed to its implementation.
Last year, the Democratic Alliance called for the issue to be referred back to Parliament for more discussion, with President Thabo Mbeki also appearing to support this approach.
The South African Human Rights Commission, on the other hand, has repeatedly called for the section to be implemented.
In its 1999 annual report, the commission said an alarmingly high number of homicides upon arrest had been noted by the Independent Complaints Directorate.
The current section was unnecessarily wide, certainly unconstitutional, and, most importantly, went against attempts to create a police force that was professional and accountable, it said. – Sapa