Police Minister Bheki Cele has vowed that police would not allow criminals to terrorise residents.
He was speaking to the community of Mariannhill on Thursday after a gang of nine suspects died in a shoot-out with police on Wednesday.
Cele also visited the family of a teenager who was allegedly raped by the gang.
According to the police, four of the killed suspects were connected to the rape of the 16-year-old in January.
The teenager’s mother, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the girl, said she remembers the day of the incident vividly.
“It was around 12.05am when we heard noises coming from the kitchen.
About five minutes later, a boy came in and held a gun to my face.”
She said five more boys came into the house and took electronics including three televisions and cellphones, demanding that they be given money and proceeded to rape her daughter.
Speaking to the minister, the mother also expressed her gratitude to Captain Thabo Ngcobo who assisted her after the incident.
“I received a lot of support from Captain Ngcobo, he showed that he himself is a parent and he sympathised with me. I was consoled as he promised me that even if it takes them six months or more, I will get justice,” said the mother.
Asked about the shootings of suspects by police, Cele denied that police were trigger happy, saying they were responding to the circumstances they faced.
“We have lost many police officers on and off duty, they themselves are also targets. So when they deal with suspected hardcore criminals, police must respond in a way that corresponds to the kind of people they are faced with,” said Cele.
“It cannot be true that these people are shot unprovoked, but the investigations do tell us what happens. Yes, we would love to arrest the criminals, but what I would not love to see is that after these operations, we bury a police officer,” said Cele.
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A man, who identified himself as a father of one of the killed suspects, told the minister that he is saddened by the manner in which his son died.
“I knew some of the boys who were killed yesterday and I used to reprimand my son to stop hanging around with bad friends.”
He acknowledged that while some of the boys were robbing people in the area, he insisted that not all of them were criminals.
“It is not right that innocent people were also killed yesterday, is it the law that police must kill anyone or should they take the right people?” he asked.
He told “The Mercury” that one of the boys killed was only visiting his son.
Meanwhile the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) on Thursday said that it had taken note of increasing numbers of suspected criminals that were allegedly being killed in shootouts with police.
“In the last two days, Ipid received reports of incidents of police allegedly killing nine suspected criminals in KZN and six in Mpumalanga. Ipid has already started investigations into these cases.
“The law allows the police to defend themselves and community members if they are faced with violent situations, but we, however, are aware of the increasing number of suspects that are allegedly killed in shootouts with the police.”
It said the Ipid Act mandated it to investigate all cases of death as a result of police actions, and discharge of an official firearm by any police officer.
“We have observed an increase in a number of these cases. The increase in the number of reported cases has an impact on the speedy finalisation of investigations, because the more cases are reported to Ipid, the longer it takes for Ipid investigators to finalise them due to an increased workload.”
The Mercury