Deputy Safety and Security Minister Susan Shabangu must be fired for her comments that police should shoot and kill criminals, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday.
”Given the gross irresponsibility of Shabangu’s remarks, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula has no choice but to fire her with immediate effect,” DA spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard said in a statement.
Shabungu’s spokesperson Noxolo Kweza on Thursday confirmed that the deputy minister had told police at an imbizo (meeting) in Pretoria on Wednesday to ”kill the bastards” — referring to criminals.
Kohler-Barnard said Shabangu’s call was nothing more than an invitation for police to commit crime.
”If the police who follow the deputy minister’s advice find themselves in trouble with the Independent Complaints Directorate or the courts, will Shabangu be there to take the blame? Such a call to not worry about the regulations would make criminals out of our police,” she said.
Shabangu’s statement was an admission that the police had failed to arrest or get criminals convicted, she said.
”Rather than playing to the gallery, Shabangu and the police as a whole should be focusing on the hard work of policing: preventing crime through a visible police presence as well as arresting criminals and securing their convictions through solid detective work,” Kohler-Barnard said.
However, Freedom Front Plus spokesperson Pieter Groenewald welcomed the deputy minister’s remarks, saying she was sending the ”right signal” to criminals.
”If you and your loved one’s lives are threatened, you have the right to fire shots if that is the only way to fend off the threat. It is time for criminals to start realising that they will not be handled with kid gloves,” Groenewald said in a statement. — Sapa