Johannesburg - Police Minister Bheki Cele has urged officers to defend themselves when confronted with danger, amid a wave of violent attacks and officer killings.
Speaking over the weekend, Cele urged officers to use their tools, but emphasised that he was not encouraging them to be brutal.
“I am not encouraging police officers to be brutal, but I am encouraging you to defend yourself and defend yourself decisively.”
He added: “That is why we give the teachers chalk, we give doctors stethoscopes, and we also give you tools. Safety, as you know, is very close to the ministry.”
Cele on Tuesday, along with Deputy Minister Cassel Mathale and the management led by General Fannie Masemola, paid a comforting visit to the bereaved family of Warrant Officer Roger Mavundla in Port Edward, KwaZulu-Natal, who was gunned down together with his partner and two children last week.
“These criminals completely wiped out the family. Mavundla’s other child is fighting for her life in the hospital; she’s only 7 years old.
“This brutal attack again demonstrates the dangers attached to the policing profession, where police officers are under constant attack from brazen criminals. It is on this scope that we dedicate one of the minister’s awards to a courageous young female officer who stood firm and responded without hesitation in her defence when confronted by brazen criminals,” Cele said.
Mavundla and his fiancée Khanyisile Mthulisi, 39, Siyamthanda Mthulisi, 10, and Thando Mavundla, 17, all died as a result of their injuries.
Simthandile Mthulisi, 7, the sole survivor of the incident, is in a critical condition in hospital.
Another police officer was gunned down in his home in Free State on Saturday night.
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has expressed concern about the high number of police killings.
“We are very concerned about the frequency of these killings and are more concerned that the SAPS management has only been reacting in relation to these killings,” said Popcru spokesperson Rivchard Mamabolo.
He said the union’s take was that more needed to be done by all stakeholders in determining the root causes of these incidents,
“We are currently arranging a policing indaba in the coming months to engage on a common approach towards ending this scourge,” Mamabolo said.
Asked what Cele was saying about officers defending themselves, Mamabolo said most legislative frameworks were implemented in the 1970s and do not take into consideration the fact that there’s no longer a police force, but a police service.
“It is important, as we will be engaging in that indaba, that we also consider the laws that will ensure police officers are also protected. In the short term, we do agree that police should not die with their firearms, but that cannot be the only solution,” said Mamabolo.
A recent report released by the Institute of Security Studies shows a 62% increase in murders over the 2021/22 period compared with 10 years ago over the 2011/12 period. During the same 10-year period, the police’s ability to solve murders dropped by 55% with current detection rates at only 14.5%.
“Compounding this further is that the number of police detectives has decreased by almost 1000 in the past five years,” said organised and financial crime investigator at IRS Forensic Investigations Chad Thomas.
He said: “Murder rates are soaring and no one is being spared. Criminals have no qualms about targeting civilians, and even armed police officers and security personnel. This shows an attitude of nonchalance on the part of criminals who believe that there are little to no consequences for their violent behaviour.”
The Star