Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said on Wednesday the proposed amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act were not intended to make room for trigger-happy officers.

Mthethwa said even though government's position on the matter was clarified, there was still a perception the changes would open the door for officials to take the law into their own hands.

"We need to point out that many in our society, including the media, have sensationalised and misrepresented this issue. There has been a general failure to recognise that the use of deadly force already applies in the current section," he said.

The minister said changes to Section 49 of the act were aimed at erasing uncertainty among officers about when to apply deadly force.