Cape Town - Allowing the police to shoot to kill won't do anything to address the weaknesses in the criminal justice system, SA Human Rights Commission chairperson Pregs Govender said on Wednesday.

She was addressing an Africa Human Rights Day event in Cape Town.

Nor would it do anything about the problem of police firearms being used in the killing of innocent civilians and in domestic violence.

"Those statistics are unacceptably high," she said.

Govender urged those in positions of authority needed to choose their public statements with care.

"What is the message that 'shoot to kill' sends in the context [of] advertising, for example, where billions of rands are spent on influencing people's behaviour in sound bytes?"

National police chief Bheki Cele is on record as saying police should not die with their guns in their pockets, but instead "shoot to kill at criminals".

President Jacob Zuma has expressed support for a change in the law to allow police greater latitude to shoot in dangerous situations.

SAPA