It appears as though the police in the Pretoria area are totally out of control. Three reported incidents of police shooting and killing unarmed civilians have emerged in the last month, indeed two this past weekend, such that it appears that Pretoria police are behaving more like cowboys than trained professionals, tasked with protecting citizens. The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Minister of Police to urgently visit SAPS stations in Pretoria to get this situation under control. This last weekend, SAPS shot an unarmed fleeing man in Atteridgeville who was allegedly smoking dagga while polishing his shoes at his home and fled when the police arrived. The question is why did the police not run after the suspect and apprehend him, instead of shooting an unarmed man in the back of the head? The following day, off-duty police officers allegedly shot and killed a street vendor. The policemen purportedly refused to pay the vendor for the food they had eaten and a fight ensued. One of the policemen reportedly returned to the barracks to fetch his gun and then shot the vendor dead. When SAPS shot and killed Olga Kekana last month, they suspected, mistakenly, that the four occupants of the car had committed a crime. At the time, Minister Mthethwa conveying his condolences to the family, said "the police leadership has emphasised and will continue to do so, that trigger happy members of the police must not think that this [the proposed amendment to Section 49] is a license to kill. It is a measure aimed specifically at serious violent crime and dangerous criminals, who place lives of both police officers and the public in danger". But it appears that the police leadership have done nothing to ensure that police follow this directive and conduct their duties within the scope of the law, nor have they reigned in rogue police officers. The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) is investigating all these incidents and one can only hope that their recommendations are followed. The Minister must get the police under control. The wild talk about "shooting to kill' has been taken to heart in Pretoria, where police are acting as judge, jury and executioner. He needs to get on a plane and go and talk with them personally, stating that the wild talk was just that.