A report by the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (Inclo) has detailed that double-ball rounds (rubber bullets), often used during community and labour-related protests, can cause death and serious injury and are described as a “particularly dangerous type of kinetic impact projectile”.
While they are considered to be of the “less-lethal” weapons that the SAPS possesses, Inclo’s “Lethal in Disguise 2” report on how crowd-control weapons impact health and human rights put the spotlight on three South African cases where two people were killed and one suffered serious injury after being shot with rubber bullets.
Inclo comprises 15 independent national human rights organisations working to promote fundamental rights and freedoms and includes South Africa’s Legal Resources Centre.
Detailing separate incidents in 2018 and 2021, a 61-year-old man and 35-year-old man were killed after being shot at close range with rubber bullets.
Thembekile Fana, 61, died during a community protest after being shot at close range when he raised his arms in surrender to police.
In another fatal incident, Mthokozisi Ntumba, a 35-year-old civil servant, was shot and killed in 2021 as he was leaving a medical clinic in the Johannesburg city centre during protests.
Four Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers were subsequently arrested and charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder.
According to the report, an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) officer said the post-mortem of Ntumba showed that he was shot at close range.
Cosatu national spokesperson, Zanele Sabela said the report’s findings were deeply concerning.
“Rubber bullets are conventionally understood to cause less harm than live ammunition, but this report puts paid to that myth. The over-reliance on rubber bullets as a means of crowd control during protests points to the dire need for proper training in the police service. Cosatu affiliate the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), has been warning of a skills drain as personnel with highly specialised skills leave the service in droves yearly in search of greener pastures in the private sector,” said Sabela.
Manufactured by a number of companies around the world and in South Africa, the use of these “inherently inaccurate” weapons in policing protests and public gatherings has changed the lives of many people in South Africa, both through tragic deaths and injuries, the report detailed.
“Owing to their design, cartridges that contain multiple projectiles are inaccurate. Once fired, the projectiles separate and can rapidly disperse, resulting in unpredictable impacts.
“This inaccuracy only increases over longer distances. As a result of this design, projectiles from double-ball rounds may impact unintended parts of the body, including the head, face or neck, which could cause serious injury. Despite their inherently inaccurate nature, the use of different types of rubber bullets continues to be a key part of police responses to protests and other public gatherings in South Africa,” the report read.
SAPS spokesperson Wesley Twigg said they would respond to questions in due course.
Cape Times