Another service delivery protest, this time in Thembisa on Gauteng’s East Rand, on Monday claimed the lives of two people, allegedly shot dead in crossfire with Ekurhuleni metro cops.
The investigation into what happened in Thembisa is still in its early stages, but unfortunately the death of protesters at the hands of those in charge of controlling the crowds is nothing new in SA. This month we will commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the slaying of 34 striking mineworkers in Marikana, North West. Not a single police officer was charged.
More recently, in Braamfontein in Johannesburg in 2021, Mthokozisi Ntumba was shot dead during a protest by University of the Witwatersrand students. Four policemen charged with his murder were recently acquitted because they could not be identified on video footage from the scene as they were wearing masks. A civil case against the police in this matter is ongoing.
May we never forget Andries Tatane, an unarmed protester who was shot dead during service delivery protests in Ficksburg in the Free State in 2011. Eight policemen were arrested for his killing but also acquitted because they could not be positively identified since they were wearing helmets.
Our police force’s default position should be to protect communities, not resort to deadly force whenever a protest turns rowdy.
After the Marikana shooting in August 2012, the subsequent Marikana commission of inquiry highlighted a range of systemic problems in the functioning of the police and its ability to handle complex crowd management operations.
In line with the recommendations of the commission, cabinet established a panel of experts to report on policing and crowd management in 2016.
One of the recommendations in the report is that the police should have a clearly articulated crowd management doctrine that guides the SAPS in supporting and respecting the right to peaceful assembly.
The report said wherever possible, the potential for violence should be minimised through negotiation and de-escalation measures. In addition, the SAPS should respect the principle of “differentiation”. In situations where there is violence, police should avoid indiscriminate use of force.
Where necessary, force should target only those involved in violence.
Public order policing, mandated to maintain public order through crowd management and managing community protests, has 45 provincial POP units as well as four reserve units. In the SAPS annual report for 2020/21, the public was informed that the human resource capability of the POP units had decreased, with 134 from 6,138 members, in 2019/2020, to 6,004 members, in 2020/2021, comprising 5,605 SAPS members and 399 PSA personnel.
Yet this is no excuse when lives are lost. Our police force’s default position should be to protect communities; not resort to deadly force whenever a protest turns rowdy.
Being circumspect should not mean police inaction. Last year, during the July riots in Durban, people were shot dead left, right and centre in Phoenix and our police force was too dysfunctional to act.
Protecting lives and property through effective crowd-control measures is a fine balancing act, but keeping South Africans safe must always be the priority — and there should be real consequences for those who do the opposite.
