S. Africans Hail Violent Thwarting Of Robbery

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By Craig Timberg

Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, December 13, 2007; Page A27

JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 12 -- A shootout in which police killed 11 gunmen apparently planning to rob a truck transporting money has prompted widespread applause in South Africa and spurred calls to lift a 12-year-old prohibition on the death penalty.

Though details remain sketchy, police were reportedly tipped off to the planned robbery, which was to take place Tuesday on a roadway north of Pretoria. After the gunmen opened fire on the truck, police hiding in nearby bushes began shooting. There were no police casualties.

In a country with some of the world's highest violent crime rates, the reaction has been exultant.

News reports quoted National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi as saying, "We will not hesitate to fight fire with fire in order to protect our people and property." Selebi himself is under investigation for alleged ties to South Africa's criminal underworld.

Callers to radio shows were even more emphatic. One said on Radio 702, "They must gun them down! More and more!"

Many South Africans say violent crime, though down modestly according to recent statistics, is beyond the control of police, who are often outgunned by armed gangs.

"People are so tired in this country of especially violent crime that they would accept any action by the police," said Johan Burger, an analyst with the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. "People are tired of being afraid, and they are tired of the complete arrogance of these criminals."

Death penalty opponent Marjorie Jobson said the public's reaction reflected rising interest in tough tactics against criminals. "We haven't yet created a society that understands the value of human life," said Jobson, acting director of Khulumani Support Group, a rights group. "This kind of knee-jerk reaction of revenge is very, very sinister."

The legacy of state-sponsored violence under apartheid remains fresh in the minds of many here. Liberation hero Steve Biko died in police custody in 1977. Nelson Mandela came close to receiving the death penalty in the Rivonia Trial of 1964. The Apartheid Museum on Johannesburg's outskirts has an exhibit featuring 121 nooses, one for each political prisoner executed under apartheid.

Yet polls have consistently shown that more than 70 percent of South Africans favor capital punishment. Reinstating it would require a constitutional change.