Police Minister Bheki Cele has defended officers involved in the killing of suspects. He was delivering an overview of police actions to combat serious and violent crimes over the past year.

'Our message is clear: no officer should die with a gun in their hand," Police Minister Bheki Cele said at a media briefing in Pretoria on Sunday.

He noted the mixed reactions to police "takedowns", which have been in the spotlight recently after several suspects were killed in shootouts with the police. Cele said police had fatally shot 150 suspects from April 2023 to date.

Police killed nine people in a shootout in Mariannhill, KwaZulu-Natal, on Wednesday, 3 April. They had been targeting 11 suspects who were reportedly linked to murders, robberies and gang rape.

Also on Wednesday, police in Witbank, Mpumalanga, killed five suspects allegedly involved in cash-in-transit heists.

The father of two of those whom the police killed in Mariannhill questioned why SAPS members had killed rather than arrested the suspects. Cele said he was confident the police officers acted lawfully.

"We have, as the ministry, seen the mixed responses from various quarters of society. The death of any individual in the country, criminal or not, should never be a cause of celebration. But some in society doing so, following the takedown of the armed gangs in KZN and Mpumalanga this week, speaks volumes," Cele said.

"However,...