The police ministry says law enforcement officers have a right to defend themselves.
This follows the killing of eight people in Khayelitsha who were suspected of planning a cash-in-transit robbery.
On Monday night, police approached a group of would-be robbers in the Cape Town township.
Police said the group fired at them and they retaliated, killing all eight.
Officers also recovered several automatic guns, three explosives, and a large cache of ammunition from the group.
Speaking at the African National Congress (ANC)’s lekgotla in Kempton Park, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu praised the police for their swift response.
“They need to survive so that they defend the community against another criminal tomorrow, so they need to spare themselves so that tomorrow they’re available so that they protect all of us, including whoever out there. So, we encourage them to be quite alert on those two fronts and we welcome and support things like what happened there.”
