When it comes to shooting criminals, it is not just the trigger of a gun but the trigger of past trauma, too, that plays a role. This view is part of the fiery debate that has gripped the public since Deputy Minister of Safety and Security Susan Shabangu told police to "shoot to kill" last week.
She was supported by ANC president Jacob Zuma who told delegates at the KZN Institute of Local Government and Tradition-al Leadership Fundraising gala dinner on Friday night that if South Africa had a deputy minister saying the kind of things Shabangu said, then that was what needed to happen.
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Zuma then warned the media not to sensationalise what he had said.
"What the deputy minister was saying is what we are to be doing... dealing with the criminals rather than talking about it," he told the gathering.
"Because the fact of the matter is that criminals shoot police. Instead of talking at that level, we ought to be seeing action that we are tougher on the criminals. That's the point I'm making."
The already raging debate about civilians taking the law into their own hands has been fuelled by the death of a 12-year-old cellphone thief at the hands of his victim in Johannesburg.
Boitumelo Kekana, a social worker at the Johannesburg branch of the Trauma Clinic, said the high prevalence of violence-related trauma made it more dangerous for South Africans to be carrying guns - both civilians and police.
"If somebody hasn't dealt with a past trauma, a new incident can trigger memories of the previous incident and one is bound to be very reactive in that situation. You might avoid talking about it, hoping it will go away, but it piles up and you can easily crack," he explained.
In the case of police who had now been given the green light by Shabangu, the situation could be even more explosive.
Kekana said police suffered from "routine trauma", which meant their daily work comes with a feeling of their lives being threatened. "They live in fear of being attacked by those they are trying to apprehend and, because it is part of their jobs, they are not given a time-out to recover.
"They can easily get to a point where they snap and action precedes thought."
Andiswa Dyasi, a Cape Town resident who has been mugged and stabbed, had not been spurred on to carry a weapon.
"I don't see why I should sink to the criminals' level or try be like them," she said.
"Although the justice system has failed us, we shouldn't opt for the 'shoot to kill' approach. We should rather focus on fighting the root cause of crime."
Father John Oliver of Gun Free South Africa said past trauma should not be seen as an excuse to shoot to kill. On the contrary, "because of the tension and trauma that so many South Africans have experienced, we need to exercise even more care and caution in the use of handguns and weapons", he said.
Oliver condemned the words of the deputy minister and said they were a direct contravention of the Criminal Procedures Act.
Shooting to kill would only only perpetuate the cycle of trauma and stir up fears that "if the police are being asked to break the law, we are living in very dangerous times".
But for a public sick of crime, shooting - literally - from the hip seems to hold favour with Cape Argus readers who responded to Shabangu's stance with strongly-worded text messages like: "At last, someone came up with a solution to rid us of the scourge of criminals."
Another said: "Shabangu will have the support of the nation with her 'no tolerance for criminals' attitude'."
- This article was originally published on page 8 of Cape Argus on April 14, 2008
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