THE South African Police Service (SAPS) are on the hunt for the killer/s of one of their own, after another brazen attack on the heroes in blue.
Friday’s incident in Vrygrond, Muizenberg, was the second cop killing in the last month, after an off-duty female officer stationed at Bishop Lavis was shot dead in her vehicle in Langa on 3 May.
Cops also came under fire on 22 May, when the Kleinvlei police station was riddled with bullets in an apparent gang attack.
In the latest concerning event, an officer was gunned in front of his home in Vrygrond, while he was leaving for work at the Wynberg station. The sergeant was found lying on the ground in his uniform next to his car.
Police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut said the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI, aka The Hawks) have been assigned to lead the investigation.
Traut reports: “At approximately 5am, the body of the 48-year-old police sergeant was discovered outside his home in Thys Witbooi Street, Vrygrond. He had sustained fatal gunshot wounds.
“At the time of the incident, he was in uniform and was en route to report for duty at Wynberg SAPS. His family members, who were inside the residence, were unharmed.”body.crosshead...: Instructed body.
The Provincial Commissioner of the Western Cape, Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile, has instructed that no resource be spared in the urgent pursuit of those responsible for the murder.
Patekile explains: “An attack on any member of the South African Police Service will be met with the full force of the law. We will not rest until justice is served.
"Police are appealing to anyone with any information that could assist in this case is urged to contact Crime Stop anonymously at 08600 10111.”
With the Muizenberg area terrorised by violence, cops also reported the murder of two taxi drivers on the same morning.
In the nearby Xakabantu informal settlement, a driver was shot and killed while sitting inside his taxi and, in a separate incident, a man in his mid-20s was shot in the Overcome Heights informal settlement in Sewende Laan.
Muizenberg cops have opened cases of murder for investigation and are appealing to anyone who may have information regarding this incident to please contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
Vrygrond ward councillor Mandy Marr called on the provincial government to take urgent action.
Marr says: “We have a massive problem in Vrygrond, and we need the police to bring resources to us. We are in desperate need. No one is talking about the extortion that is occurring in Vrygrond.”
She also criticised what she described as selective urgency in official responses, saying: “It’s devastating that a police officer, one of my residents, is killed, but every life matters. A scholar transport driver was killed, and he is not the first.
“Now that a police officer has been shot, the province says it will take any means necessary to get to the bottom of this. All people deserve justice.”