President Jacob Zuma expressed sadness on Monday at the death of a woman shot dead by police officials who apparently mistook her for a hijacker.

"The president hasn't received the full details of what actually happened so it makes it difficult to comment... however, this incident is extremely sad. I don't think one can find words to express the sadness. It is really, really regrettable," Zuma's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told Sapa.

A woman was killed and two other people were wounded in Mabopane, north of Pretoria, on Sunday when police shot at their car, Gauteng police said.

Members of the Flying Squad had been "looking out" for a hijacked grey Toyota Corolla when they spotted a car fitting the description, Captain Julia Claassen said.

"The police put out their blue lights for the driver to stop, but he didn't, so police fired shots."

A woman passenger died and two other passengers were wounded. The driver was uninjured.

However, the driver, Simon Mathibela, who is a captain in the Air Force, told Talk Radio 702 on Monday morning the police's version was not true.

"I am a pilot. I am tested for my hearing. There were no sirens; there was one flash of blue lights and shots fired and my friend is dead," said Mathibela.

He said he partly blamed Zuma for the incident.

"The president made a mistake by giving police powers that he could not control," said Mathibela.

However, Zuma's spokesperson said the president had never used the words "shoot to kill".

"This is a phrase that has been coined by some in the media and its use has been very unfair and misleading," said Magwenya.

Zuma recently met about 1000 police station commanders to hear from them what problems they face on a daily basis.

Section 49 amendment

At this meeting, he expressed support for an amendment to Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act that would give the police more lenience to shoot in dangerous situations.

Zuma said at the meeting: "Criminals don't take an oath to do warning shots... If you take a gun out to me, that intent is more than clear, the next thing the criminal is going to shoot at me. That intent is very clear.

"My thinking is once a criminal takes out their gun the intent is clear... police must then act to protect themselves and the innocents...

"We have an abnormal criminal problem in South Africa. We must therefore apply extraordinary measures," he said.

But he did make it clear at the meeting this did not mean police officers should be "trigger happy".

Magwenya reiterated this on Monday.

"When the president spoke to the police, he equally warned against trigger happy policemen. His support for tougher action against violent criminals did not translate to a licence for policemen to just go out and shoot people," said Magwenya.

"As unfortunate and regrettable as this incident [the Mabopane incident] was, it should not take us away from what is the real problem facing all of us... the fact is, we live behind high walls.

"Our houses are fortified in the same manner as military bases — that is if you can afford the cost — you cannot let your five-year-old out in the streets cycling because we are a security conscious society as a result of the violent nature of crimes we see every day. "

He said Zuma believed South Africa needed comprehensive measures to deal with crime.

That was why, in the meeting with the police officers, police morale was discussed and Zuma listened to complaints about flaws in the criminal justice system.

However, the government also wanted to send a strong message to criminals.

"You have criminals who are heavily armed, who have no regard to the law, a complete disregard of people's lives and those criminals need to be dealt with harshly," said Magwenya.

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