'Police will use live ammo'

2008-05-16 08:37

Cobus Coetzee

Johannesburg - The police will shoot using live ammunition (during crowd control) if they are forced to, said Deputy Minister of Safety and Security Susan Shabangu on Thursday when she and other ministers visited Alexandra north of Johannesburg.

Immigrants in the township had been attacked since Sunday, in violence fuelled by xenophobia.

During some of the attacks, police were fired on with live ammunition.

Shabangu said: "If police are pushed to such an extent, they'll use live ammunition and not just rubber bullets."

500 extra police

She said, however, the situation in Alexandra had not yet reached that point.

Shabangu caused an uproar in April when she said that police officers should shoot to kill.

Since the violence broke out in Alexandra, 500 extra police and metro officers have been deployed in the township.

Shabangu said: "Even although the atmosphere is tense, there is calm and police have everything under control."

- Beeld