An Acceptable Price to Pay: The Use of Lethal Force by Police in South Africa

This paper is concerned with the use of lethal force by police in South Africa. Police in apartheid South Africa were associated with the excessive use of force. With the transition to democracy various measures were taken to control the use of force by police. These measures may have initially contributed to reductions in the use of lethal force by police but it appears that this effect has been temporary, as this report shows. The paper thus argues that there is a need for greater attention to the control of the use of lethal force. This requires going beyond sanctioning unlawful uses of force and emphasising support to police to achieve the highest possible standards of professionalism in their use of lethal force.