Oct 19th - South African police shot dead 556 in year

Rise to highest toll for a decade comes as father blames Zuma rhetoric for death of daughter mistakenly shot by police

David Smith in Johannesburg guardian.co.uk, Monday 19 October 2009 15.26 BST

South African police move in for a raid in Cape Town. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Police in South Africa shot dead 556 people – including 32 bystanders – last year, the highest annual total for a decade.

The increase was revealed as the father of a 30-year-old hairdresser mistakenly shot dead by police blamed calls for a shoot-to-kill policy from the president, Jacob Zuma.

The death toll of 556 suspects and others up to April this year was the fourth consecutive rise recorded by the Independent Complaints Directorate. It was almost double the 281 deaths that resulted from police action in 2005-06.

The toll has almost returned to the levels of the apartheid era. David Bruce, of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, told South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper that an estimated 653 people were shot dead by the police in 1976, the year of the student uprising in Soweto.

Police tactics ahead of next year's World Cup are under scrutiny after the killing this month of 30-year-old Olga Kekana, who was on her way to a party in a car with three friends near Pretoria. Police allegedly sprayed the grey Toyota with at least 13 bullets after mistaking the occupants for hijackers. Kekana died after being shot in the head, and two others were injured.

Kekana's father, Frans Makgotla, blamed the police actions on Zuma's rhetoric. The president has backed the demands of the new national police commissioner, Bheki Cele, for a return to apartheid-era legislation making it easier for officers to open fire on suspects without fearing the consequences.

The controversy deepened yesterday when Zuma's African National Congress was accused of politicising Kekana's funeral. Angie Molebatsi, an ANC MP, reportedly told mourners: "One way or another we are all going to die, regardless of whether a cop shoots you or you were ill. Let's not lose hope towards the police. Let's keep on trusting them. Forgiveness is what God wants. This was her destiny, let's not blame the police."

Dianne Kohler Barnard, the shadow police minister, called on Molebatsi to apologise for the comments. "Quite understandably, according to the reports, her comments were received very poorly by mourners," she said. "Ms Molebatsi's comments were callous and cold, and she ought to publicly apologise immediately."

Cele has announced plans to rebrand the police as a force instead of a service, with a military-style command structure of generals and lieutenants.

Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/19/south-africa-police-shootings-toll