Following the shooting of five Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) officers, the head of the unit has called for the removal of senior cops who ordered the ill-fated operation.
Disciplinary action is now being taken against the officers by a colonel from the Blue Downs Cluster Detectives.
Five officers were wounded and a sixth suffered a knee injury during a pre-dawn operation on Wednesday in Sweet Home Farm, Philippi.
They were ambushed while searching for a murder suspect.
The attack came a day after Police Minister Bheki Cele met Samora Machel residents to discuss the high crime rate in the area.
Anti-Gang Unit head Major-General André Lincoln asked that a brigadier and two colonels who allegedly planned the operation without his knowledge be removed in an internal memo to the provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Khombinkosi Jula.
“This request is necessitated by a break in the trust relationship between the commander of AGU and the said officers as decisions taken and implemented with regards to the shooting incident where six members were involved,” reads the letter.
The operation, the letter states, had been planned by two officers the day before it took place, without a discussion with Lincoln.
No approved plan or back-up from units such as the Tactical Response Team had been in place.
“None of the 10 officers, who were part of the team, were properly briefed and the dockets on the suspects they were meant to trace were not gang-related and therefore did not fall within the mandate of the AGU,” said Lincoln.
The report said the police approached the suspect’s house and identified themselves.
The person inside opened the door and shots were fired from inside, police took cover and retaliated and a chase ensued between the shacks while shooting was taking place.
Four officers were transported to Melomed Mitchells Plain, while two, one of whom is in a critical state, were taken to Gatesville Melomed.
Five of the officers involved in the operation sustained gunshot wounds and one twisted his knee.
A 26-year-old man was arrested later that day at Paarl Hospital in connection with the shooting.
Two of the six injured officers have been discharged from hospital.
Lincoln’s letter has revealed tensions within the provincial police, with Lincoln and head of detectives Major-General Jeremy Vearey, said to be at odds with Jula.
Neither Lincoln nor Jula responded to queries on the matter. Vearey also declined to comment.
“This is an internal matter and will be handled as such,” said acting national police spokesperson, Colonel Brenda Muridili.