Police brutality in this country is out of control and victims seem to have forgotten that they have rights that should be protected. Many victims, especially during the outbreak of Covid-19, were killed for not abiding by regulations.
Under the current dispensation, it is clear that the police and justice system are still suffering from the hangover of the apartheid past. Police service must serve and protect citizens, not a police force to brutalize and humiliate fellow South Africans.
The situation is getting worse, as many people who are in a relationship with a police officer have been abused by their lover.
According to several reports, a female nurse has been shot and killed at Tembisa Hospital by her boyfriend, who is a police officer. It gets worse, as the officer turned the gun on himself, trying to commit suicide. It has been reported that he is in critical condition, and the hospital has been shut down following the horrific incident.
The Gauteng Health Department has released a statement to notify the public that Tembisa Hospital has been temporarily shut down following the incident.
They add that the 30-year-old officer was driving a police vehicle and parked at the Accident Emergency parking lot, called out his wife who is a nurse at the hospital, then shot her twice before shooting himself. The staff is still traumatized and patients who were already in the hospital are still receiving medical assistance.
A lot of victims have complained that Gender-Based Violence is highly prevalent within law enforcement, that the perpetrators are some of the police officers, hence they turn victims away whenever they report a crime.
Minister of Police Bheki Cele has to ensure that he offers his officers a support structure for the trauma that they are always going through. They have to undergo a mental evaluation time and again, to ensure that they are in the right state to carry a firearm.