'Aim for the head' didn't mean kill - Cele

2012-02-03 11:05

Johannesburg - The statement "aim for the head" did not mean police officers were expected to kill criminals, suspended national police commissioner Bheki Cele told the South Gauteng High Court, according to a report on Friday.

Cele, who was in court on Thursday, is suing The Sowetan for defamation, the newspaper said on Friday.

Cele claims the newspaper published unbalanced stories about him and a "manipulated" picture of him when he was the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for safety and security.

In reference to the comment "aim for the head", Cele said: "The statement... was made after a police officer died. He was chasing the criminal and shot him in the leg and when he [the officer] approached the suspect, he was then shot and killed.

"If the police officer had aimed for the head, the suspect and not the officer would have been buried instead."

He said the article also implied that he had ordered police to kill eight people.

"Political heads of police do not command police officers. The article implied that I ordered the police to shoot those people, but that was simply not true."

- SAPA