Outrage at shoot-to-kill call

Susan Shabangu, the South African deputy security minister, has caused a political uproar after she said police should shoot-to-kill when confronting armed criminals.

In remarks broadcast on local television and radio on Wednesday, Shabangu said that if threatened, police should “kill the bastards”.

“I want no warning shots. You have one shot and it must be a kill shot.”

The country’s human rights commission said that Shabangu’s comments were “inciting, disparaging and dismissive of the rule of law”.

They said the actions that she encouraged violated the constitutional principal that police should only use “the least degree of force reasonably necessary in order to carry out the arrest”.

South Africa’s main opposition Democratic Alliance called for the deputy security minister to be fired.

More than 50 people are murdered each day in South Africa, often for as little as a mobile phone.

Violent robbery and carjackings are common, as well as kidnapping and attacks on children.

The country also has highest reported rate of rape of the world. More than 50,000 cases were reported last year, almost 150 a day.

Based on reported cases, South Africa has 114 rapes per 100,000 people, compared with a rate of 32 rapes per 100,000 in the United States, according to police figures.