KZN Provincial Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Image: Screengrab/ Newzroom Afrika X LIve
The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) provincial commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has defended police actions in recent shootouts with criminals, asserting that police officers will retaliate when criminals open fire on them.
Mkhwanazi shared these sentiments at the South African Police Service (Saps) KZN Provincial Head Quarters, in Durban, during a media briefing on the state of policing in the province.
This comes after the province recorded approximately 31 suspects who were shot and killed in police shootouts from April this year to date.
“It is important for me to mention that police investigate to arrest the suspects and take them through the justice system, however if suspects shoot at police officers and put their lives in danger, police will retaliate with proportional force to save their lives and those of innocent community members,” said Mkhwanazi.
Additionally, Mkhwanazi said while crime was evident in the province it was under control.
The 31 deceased suspects were entangled in various, different shootout incidents across the province.
These include nine suspects in Mariannhill, four in Harding, four in Camperdown, and four in Sydenham on Wednesday. Two were shot in each shootout incident in Wentworth, Klaarwater (Mariannhill), and Phoenix. One suspect each came out second best in Hillcrest, Umbumbulu, Inanda (Lusaka) and Isipingowere a police officer also sustained a gunshot wound.
Mkhwanazi said these criminals were hardcore.
Adding that they “were found in possession of firearms, some of them high calibre rifles”.
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The aforementioned shoutouts are not uncommon in the country. The police have been complaining about criminals wanting to evade arrest and therefore opening fire in order to do so.
Last year in November, national commissioner general Fannie Masemola concurred with Mkhwanazi’s assertion that officers must defend themselves against criminals.
“With regards to operations, police go out to operations, with a view to keep the community safe. At the same time, when they come across criminals [who] shoot at them, surely we don’t expect them to sit back and pray; that’s what I told them.
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“If they pray and sit back, they will be killed. You can pray before you go to work, but once you’re at work and you get confronted, you must be able to respond,” he said in an interview with EWN.
“It’s not only in KwaZulu-Natal. We’ve seen a lot of members that are being shot at in Western Cape, in Western Cape and countrywide. It is not police that go out to shoot at people; we want to arrest people. If you can surrender and get arrested, by no means, we have no problem, but if they shoot at our police members, police have to respond to protect themselves and society at large.”
Presenting the country’s crime stats in August, Former Police Minister Bheki Cele shared worry over the rate at which police officers were being killed in the line of duty across the country.
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“It cannot be normal that 31 police officers are killed in three months. Far too many of our officers are also dying off duty,” said Cele.
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