Monday, February 17, 2025

FIRST WITH SECURITY NEWS

DA calls for body cameras to monitor KZN police after 107 suspects killed in one year

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With an average of nine suspects killed each month by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) between July 2023 and July 2024, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the urgent use of body cameras to monitor police-public interactions, amongst other interventions.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu gave the police killings numbers in response to a DA National Council of Provinces (NCOP) parliamentary question. The reply further reveals that one police officer was arrested during the same period for alleged involvement in the killing/s.

KZN consistently features as the province with the highest number of killings as a result of police action. Between 2022/23, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) reported that 108 suspects were killed by the SAPS in KZN. This while South Africa as a whole recorded 364 deaths.

“While it is common knowledge that suspected criminals in our province do not spare the police, the high number killed remains a cause for concern,” stated Mzamo Billy MP – DA Member on the Select Committee on Security and Justice.

“Deadly force by SAPS should not be regarded as an acceptable way of confronting KZN’s escalating crime levels. Instead, stakeholders should tread carefully as it may impact public trust in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.”

“Our province needs an enhanced whole of government and society crime prevention strategy approach – that is properly funded and brings various stakeholders together. The use of evidence-based policing and technology, the allocation of police resources based on crime prevalence within communities and an urgent exploration of the use of body cameras to monitor police-public interactions are also required, Billy stated.

“Cameras don’t lie. Their purpose is two-fold – to ensure that there is no police brutality or police over exertion of authority and to review footage and establish where more SAPS training and resources are needed. Yet, despite former Police Minister Bheki Cele stating in May 2019 that body-worn cameras were being prioritised, to date not a single one has been procured or deployed by the SAPS since then.”

The killing of criminal suspects is not a solution to escalating crime levels, the DA said. “This must be strongly discouraged while supporting responsible policing efforts. Value for human life and upholding the law are paramount. We should only celebrate the lawful arrest and prosecution of suspects, not their killing. This can only begin with a devolved, fully capacitated SAPS,” the DA concluded.

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