107 suspects killed in one year: DA calls for body cameras to monitor KZN police-public interactions

23 October 2024

The Democratic Alliance (DA) can reveal that an average of nine suspects were killed each month by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) between the period July 2023 and July 2024.

The astonishing revelation was made in a written reply (view here), by Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu to a DA National Council of Provinces (NCOP) parliamentary question on the total number of suspects killed by police during this specific time frame.

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 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.

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.

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. 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.

Issued by Mzamo Billy, DA Member of the Select Committee on Security and Justice, 23 October 2024