South African police shot dead 556 people last year, the highest number in 12 years, media reports said on Thursday, igniting fresh debate on policing tactics in the crime-plagued country.
The increase in police violence in South Africa, which sees an average 50 killings a day, brought fresh scrutiny to police National Commissioner Bheki Cele’s declaration last year that police should “shoot to kill”.
The figures were up one-third from the 420 deaths reported in 2008, according to the Independent Complaints Directorate, a government watchdog. The numbers were reported on Talk Radio 702’s website.
A spokesperson for the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum said South Africa needed better police training and clear legislation on the use of deadly force.
“What we have been arguing for consistently is that there needs to be good training around the use of force, the legislation needs to be clear and we need to have consistent messages,” Sean Craigh told the radio.
Institute for Security Studies senior researcher Johan Burger said he believed the police were merely responding to rising levels of violence.
He said he was not convinced that there was a link in the increase in fatal shootings and statements by politicians that the police should shoot to kill.
South African police officials have been pushing for more firepower to fight one of the world’s highest crime rates.
Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula in November drew criticism for saying officers should “shoot the bastards”, days after police fatally shot a three-year-old boy during a hunt for a murder suspect outside Johannesburg.
Mbalula said he was referring to “hard-nut-to-crack, incorrigible criminals”.
South African President Jacob Zuma has insisted that police do not have a “licence to kill”. — AFP, Sapa