The smash-and-grab attack on parliamentary police committee chairperson Ian Cameron's vehicle, resulting in him shooting one of his assailants, prompts serious inquiries into the appropriate application of force and the approach MPs adopt when operating in high-risk zones.

Listen to this article 12 min Listen to this article 12 min The parliamentary police committee chairperson, DA MP Ian Cameron, says he acted in self-defence when he shot one of the assailants who attacked his vehicle in Philippi, Cape Town, last week, but there are ongoing questions over whether the force was reasonable and whether he should have been carrying a firearm at all.

While bricks were hurled at his vehicle, an act that could reasonably be seen as life-threatening and prompting the use of a firearm in self-defence, the assailants themselves were apparently not armed, and their exact intent remains unclear. Only a police probe, followed by referral to a senior prosecutor, will determine whether there might be a prima facie case against Cameron.

In the aftermath of the incident on Tuesday, 19 August, experts told Daily Maverick it was imperative that the SAPS gather statements on the shooting, conduct ballistics tests and potentially refer the docket to a senior prosecutor, who would decide whether the evidence warranted prosecution.

Cameron and two fellow DA MPs, Nicholas Gotsell and Lisa-Maré Schickerling, were on their way to the airport from an oversight visit at the Philippi SAPS training academy when...