GP Community Safety cautions police against emulating crime-fighting style of KZN Commissioner

JOHANNESBURG - The Gauteng Portfolio Committee on Community Safety has “cautioned against” police emulating the crime-fighting style of KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

Under the leadership of Mkhwanazi, KZN police have killed over a hundred people suspected of various crimes over the past year.

Friday, the Gauteng Division of police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) presented its statistics before the portfolio committee at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg.

READ: Over 40,000 people arrested in KZN since August, says top cop Mkhwanazi

Between April and September this year, IPID said there were 15 incidents where Gauteng police unjustifiably killed people in the line of duty.

IPID said 10 Gauteng SAPS officers have been arrested as a result.

Chairperson of the provincial Portfolio Committee on Community Safety Bandile Masuku said it's important that the police fight crime within the bounds of the law.

"With the seemingly social media popularity of the [Police] commissioner of KZN, all other commissioners want to do the same and instruct their members to be like in KZN. We must see more criminals dying and being shot, that makes your commissioner of provincial service effective. I did warn and caution against that. We shouldn’t be in that competition for popularity because it brings about a lot of wrongness too. We wouldn’t know what the intention is of the whole thing."

In the same breath, Masuku said Gauteng police cannot be seen to be soft on criminals.