KZN police defend shootout tactics amid growing public safety concerns

Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said officers do not initiate violence but respond when confronted by armed suspects. A rise in deadly shootouts between police and suspects in KwaZulu-Natal has drawn mixed reactions, with law enforcement defending its approach while analysts and community structures raise concerns about accountability and public safety. “We cannot say the justice systemis failing.

Police are effective. We are arresting people every day, they are going to court, and people are getting sentenced, including life sentences. So we canassert thatwe have an effective justice system,” Netshiunda said.

He emphasised that police operations are aimed at arrests. “Police don’t go out to shoot. Police go out to arrest a person.

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That’s why police will announce their presence,” he said. Netshiunda said suspects are often heavily armed with illegal firearms, contributing to violent confrontations. “When you go to crime scenes where there are shootouts and you find the calibre of guns that criminals have, you wish that police have those guns,” he said.

He added that officers are legally entitled to defend themselves and the public. “If during the operation there’s an exchange of gunfire and somebody is to die, police will do their level best that if somebody is to die, that person is not a member of SAPS. Because nobody reports for duty to be killed.” However, policing expert David Bruce from the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) said oversight mechanisms are not functioning as effectively as intended.

“IPID is supposed to be responsible for investigating these shootings. However, IPID is generally not able to investigate these incidents with any rigour and almost exclusively relies on the accounts provided by the police officers involved,” Bruce said. He warned that such incidents pose serious risks to the public.

“The risks to bystanders during these shootings are significant,” he said. Community Policing Forum (CPF) structures have largely supported police in these confrontations while acknowledging the complexity of crime trends. In Inanda, CPF deputy chairperson Mbongeni Phewa said recent high-intensity operations have unsettled criminal networks, but their broader impact remains uncertain.

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