Speaker, a reply to a parliamentary question regarding the lack of shooting practice received by police members stationed at police stations throughout my constituency of Kempton Park, Edenvale, is alarming. According to the Minister of Police, the minimum shooting practice required for police members is once a year for low-risk category members and at least two shooting practices per year for medium-risk category members.
However, last year only 23% of all police members received firearm shooting practice, and this year the figure is a dismal 25%. This means that only one in four police members received the minimum required training. In April 2008, the then Deputy Minister of Police, Susan Shabangu, urged police officers to shoot to kill, and the current National Police Commissioner has echoed the same sentiments, yet the ANC government dismally fails to ensure that police officers can actually shoot accurately. What hypocrites!
When 75% of the SAPS members are not undergoing firearm shooting practice and are failing to meet the SAPS' own minimum standards, we have trigger- happy politicians encouraging police members to shoot to kill. These politicians are not only paying lip service to the public's emotions, but are failing our citizens, especially our men and women in blue, whose lives are being endangered as this ANC government places pressure on them to shoot to kill, yet fails to ensure that our police officers are actually trained to shoot. I thank you. [Applause.]