SAPS discussion and news

[curious george]

*related apperently*

Bury him fast, cops tell family:

The family of a man who was killed during a shootout with police who foiled a hijacking in Northcliff have been forced by the police to bury him today and not tomorrow.

The family of Itumeleng Donny Nkomo, 31, said yesterday they were shocked when the police arrived at their Orland East home on Wednesday saying they should not bury him at the weekend.

They said we should not bury him on Saturday, we should do it on a Thursday or Friday. They said we are in danger and they are protecting us, but se don't understand from what, said sister Thandi Nkomo.

She claimed the police warned them that if they bury Itumeleng tomorrow, they would arrest them and confiscate the corpse.

They were so forceful, they came in and covered all the entrances, brandishing big guns. The body was released to us, she said.

I don't care what people say about him. He was my brother and I loved him, he deserves to be laid to rest properly, Nkomo added.

She said the family would proceed with the funeral today, and Itumeleng would be buried at Avalon Cemetry.

The Star - Friday 24 June 2011

*huh?*

[curious george]

Gauteng top cop's home burgled

2011-06-25 08:09
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Ne...rgled-20110625

Johannesburg - The Bryanston home of Gauteng police commissioner General Mzwandile Petros has been burgled, Eyewitness News reported on Saturday.

The commissioner was not at home when the break-in happened on Friday, after 20:00.

His wife heard the robbers breaking in and raised the alarmed.

The robbers managed to steal a plasma screen TV before fleeing.

The gang was believed to have climbed over a wall and broke the wooden panel of the front door.

Over 20 cars were parked outside the luxury home in the early hours of Saturday as detectives swarmed the house and carried out bags of evidence.



- SAPA

*the irony isnt lost on ordinary south africans*

[curious george]

"Now why is it that there are over 20 cars parked there and its only a break in and for any other average joe on the street they will take hours if not days to come and investigate!!"

*from own experience with my breakin,I had 2 x guys come take a statement,a finger prints lady the day after! I'm still to see the detective 8 x months later.......
also BAGS of evidence of what?(a breakin?)I smell BS.....

A

[curious george]

More good news:Selebi's house burgled

2011-06-26 08:00



Johannesburg - Former police commissioner Jackie Selebi house in Waterkloof, Pretoria has been burgled, Gauteng police said on Sunday.
Lieutenant Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou said robbers gained entry to the house after lifting the gate off from its rail.
"It is not a robbery, it is house breaking and theft," he said.
He said the robbers made off with electrical appliances including a plasma TV, laptop and foreign coins.
Selebi was not home when the robbers. struck, his wife found a VW Golf parked outside her house when she returned home on Saturday, around 18:30.
"No shot was fired, no pointing of firearm," said Ndou.
He said the incident was not linked to the burglary at the Bryanston home of Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros.
"This are two separate incidents, they are not linked at all. The one occurred in Johannesburg and the other in Pretoria," he said.
Petros' home was burgled on Friday night. A formal investigation into the burglary has started.

-SAPA

*so there's at least some justice in this world.....!*


http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Ne...rgled-20110626



*Lmao at "foreign coins",ermmm he collected a bit more than just mere coins.

"This are two separate incidents, they are not linked at all. The one occurred in Johannesburg and the other in Pretoria," he said.

*offcourse that may or may not be the case,but if thats the scientific approach thats used I think I should consider a carreer change,with guys like these,what are odds of ever being caught......*

[playtym]

The SAPS once again prove that they can do their jobs... when a police officer is the victim.
I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

Man held over Petros burglary

Johannesburg - A Mamelodi man has been arrested for burgling the Bryanston home of Gauteng Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Mzwandile Petros, police said on Sunday.

"The swift arrest of one suspect in connection with the case of General Petros underlines our commitment to deal with such criminality with utmost effectiveness," National Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele said on Sunday.

The 27-year-old man was arrested while allegedly breaking into another home in Bryanston on Saturday night, said Brigadier Neville Malila.

He was with other men who ran away when the police arrived, he said.

They left their getaway car outside the house. It was found to contain items stolen during both burglaries.

The man would appear in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Monday.

Burglars broke into Petros's home on Friday, stealing a plasma television screen and other appliances. He was not at home at the time, but his wife was. The burglars fled when she activated the alarm.

Police said the burglary was not linked to a weekend break-in at the home of former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi.

On Saturday night, Selebi's house in Waterkloof, Pretoria, was burgled.

Lieutenant Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou said burglars lifted the gate off its rail to gain entry into the house.

He said the thieves took a plasma television set, a laptop and foreign coins.

Selebi was not at home at the time, but his wife arrived to find a Volkswagen Golf parked outside at 18:30.

No arrests had been made.

[R/cst]

RIP my brother

Slain police reservist remembered

Marc Ishlove loved cooking pasta. He didn’t care much for birthdays, believing every day was a day worth celebrating.
Off-duty, he wore Crocs and a hat. Wherever he went, he carried a bottle of water with him.
And no matter what, he was always ready to spring into action.
These are the memories of friends, family and colleagues of Lieutenant-Colonel Ishlove, a police reservist for more than 30 years.
At his funeral at the Mosaiek Church in Fairland on Monday, they remembered him as one of the country’s best marksman who paid the ultimate sacrifice doing what he loved to do.
A fortnight ago, Ishlove, the former head reservist at the Fairland police station, was shot and killed by one of five robbers trying to flee a police chase in Northcliff.
He had not been on duty at the time, but had responded to a call for back-up.

Ishlove’s daughters Marcia and Juliette, back from Australia where they live, described their father as “fiercely protective and a man who knew the value of honesty and courage”.
Later, Juliette recalled how her father had once stormed the principal’s office after she had spelt a word incorrectly in a test, to confront the teacher and find out how she had taught the spelling of the word in class.
Marcia spoke of how her father would collect her from her part-time job at the Cresta mall in the police car with the police dogs in tow so that “everyone would know that my dad was a policeman”.
Hundreds of police officers and reservists - including national commissioner General Bheki Cele and Gauteng commissioner General Mzwandile Petros - came to pay their respects to Ishlove, hailing him as a hero.
Reservist Lieutenant-Colonel Len Cramer, who had worked with Ishlove since 1977, spoke of a “man’s man” who, when out of uniform, wore shorts with slops or Crocs and a hat.
“His bald head was covered with some or other cap, floppy hat or beanie, and he always carried a bottle of water,” said Cramer.
Ishlove, he said, could easily change from “serious and disciplined” to jovial. He spoke of an occasion at a shooting competition in Cape Town, when the hotel where Ishlove and his six shooting companions were staying had a power failure and ran out of hot water.
Ishlove had told the manager that when he got back, there had better be hot water or the manager would hear all about it.
“When they got back, there was no hot water and Ishlove appeared in a Speedo and towel and went to the swimming pool where there were children and parents. He dived in at the deep end and when he came out, he had a cake of soap.
“He wiped himself down and soaped himself in full view,” explained Cramer with a chuckle.
Cramer remembered Ishlove’s wry sense of humour - with choice expressions and language that could not be repeated in public.
Juliette agreed: “He shot from the hip and spoke from the heart.” - The Star
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-afri...ered-1.1089922

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGMpf2QeaQA

[curious george]

RIP to a very well respected man!

[curious george]

*back to a pos tho*

29 June 2011



Gareth Wilson
wilsong@avusa.co.za
SHOCKED bystanders said yesterday (June 28) an off-duty policeman had shot dead a New Brighton man who was arguing with his girlfriend outside a tavern.
They said the officer had pulled over in his unmarked car, taken out his gun and shot the man twice in the chest at point-blank range.
The constable from the Motherwell police station is under investigation after the shooting on Monday night, which witnesses claim was unprovoked. The police confirmed he had been on leave and had used his private firearm.
The death of Ayanda Williams, 30, has sparked outrage from his distraught family, who called for justice to be served amid concerns that the police had neither arrested nor charged the constable.
The shooting happened at about 9pm in Njoli Road, New Brighton, while Williams and his girlfriend, Nomthandazo Ntisa, 30, were walking home after visiting the nearby Ngece Tavern. “We were arguing and I decided to leave and started walking home,” Ntisa said tearfully.
“He [Williams] ran after me and we were arguing on the side of Njoli Road when a blue Toyota Tazz stopped next to us. The man got out, walked straight up to Ayanda and shot him in the chest without saying a word. “I did not know what to do and just froze. As Ayanda fell to his knees, he grabbed my legs – blood was coming from his mouth.”
The couple’s friend, Surprise Magoqoza, 26, who had been walking behind them, said he had run away in panic when the “madman” started shooting.
“When I was about 100m away, he shouted at me to stop, saying he was a police officer.
“I stopped in my tracks and slowly walked back. I thought he was going to shoot me as well. The man then showed his police [appointment] certificate and the next thing he was on the phone calling the police and ambulance.” The two distraught friends tried to go to Williams, who lay in a pool of blood, but the policeman stopped them, saying:
“He is dead so stand back”.
Ayanda’s cousin, Nolusindiso Peter, 18, who arrived shortly after the shooting, alleged police at the scene had refused to speak to them and told the officer to “run away”. “They did not arrest him, but they took his gun away and told him to leave. I heard one policeman say to him he must go and hide before the community acted against him,” she said.
Williams’s furious uncle, Sabelo Williams, said the police needed to explain why this senseless murder had happened. “No one has told us anything. We need to know why this policeman shot and killed my boy,” he said, crying. Williams was self-employed and drove a jikeleza (township taxi) part-time.
Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said the policeman claimed he had acted in self-defence and that Williams had been aggressive with him when he stopped next to the couple.
“He claims to have stopped next to the road to offer assistance when [Williams] attempted to attack him,” he said.
“He said he had fired a warning shot and then after [Williams] continued to advance towards him, shot him in the shoulder.”
Beetge said because the policeman had claimed self-defence, he had not been arrested at the scene.
“We are investigating and if the evidence points to the fact that he knowingly shot [Williams], the necessary steps will be taken.”
The Independent Complaints Directorate, the police watchdog, confirmed yesterday it had been notified and was in the process of taking over the case

http://www.peherald.com/news/article/1883

*sorry bit belated post*

[curious george]

KZN cop shoots wife, in-laws

KZN cop shoots wife, in-laws

A Cato Manor policeman shot his wife, sister-in-law and mother-in-law on Friday morning after an argument with his wife, KwaZulu-Natal police said.

"The wife fled to her parent's house in KwaMashu after she fought with the policeman on Thursday night," Lietenant Colonel Vincent Mdunge said.

The policeman went to the house on Friday morning and the couple fought again.

He then shot his wife, her younger sister and their mother.

"He ran away and called the station commander at Cato Manor police station and told him he did what he wanted to do and was then going to shoot himself," said Mdunge.

He said that the three women were all in a critical condition in hospital and that police were still searching for the man.

*another upstandinding member of the SAPS*

[baboon6]

Madonsela 'arrest' report is intimidation: DA

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Ne...on-DA-20110706

Johannesburg - Reported plans to arrest Public Protector Thuli Madonsela form part of a pattern of intimidation, if the allegations against her are untrue as she has said, the opposition DA said on Wednesday.

"There is thus already a clearly established pattern of intimidation of anybody who has been involved in finding or exposing wrongdoing on the part of the [SA Police Service]," DA MP Debbie Schafer said, referring to the protector's investigation into alleged irregularities in multimillion-rand leases for police office space.

"It is too coincidental that these allegations against the public protector are now surfacing."

The Star reported on Wednesday that, according to sources they did not name, Madonsela would be arrested for alleged corruption and fraud relating to R1.8m worth of work her private company did for the SA Law Reform Commission when she worked there.

Police would not say whether the report was true or not.

"We are not going to be drawn into comments attributed to faceless people," said Colonel Vishnu Naidoo.

"We don't confirm or deny investigations against people unless they have appeared in court."

McIntosh Polela, spokesperson for police special investigating unit the Hawks, was on holiday and earlier, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said he was not aware of charges pending against her.
- SAPA

[baboon6]

http://www.businessday.co.za/article...aspx?id=147945

IF YOU are accused of some heinous act, the easiest, and the slyest response is to accuse your accuser of something worse. Then you can argue your accuser was motivated to make the original accusation in an attempt to deflect attention from accusations against him. However, the accuser can make the same claim; that the counteraccusations have been made to deflect the original accusations.



This is all massively confusing, which is the point. Confusing the issue is precisely the intention because even if the original accusation is correct, it then disappears into a miasma of contradictory and conflicting claims.



This is not precisely what happened around the news that Public Protector Thuli Madonsela was about to be arrested, but it’s close. The obvious background is Ms Madonsela’s impending report on the rental of police headquarters, which promises to embarrass senior police officers, including police chief General Bheki Cele.



The problem with the accusations made against Ms Madonsela in a report in the Star newspaper is that they fall into a pattern of abuse of police authority, all related to the same suspicious rental contracts.

First, Sunday Times investigative reporter Mzilikazi wa Afrika, who helped to break the story, was arrested on charges so inadequate the case was thrown out before it got to court. Then police decided to raid the offices of the public protector — and four months later, still no explanation of this high-handed act of intimidation has been provided by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa .



As for the accusations themselves, it appears that like so many other charges they are so flimsy that they cannot really be taken seriously. In any event, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe yesterday declared that they did not constitute a violation of any prescripts or laws, and to the extent that there ever was an enquiry, he closed it.



The accusation was that a company owned by Ms Madonsela was paid for work by SA Law Reform Commission (SALRC) several years ago while she worked there. The point is that even that were true, it does not necessarily give rise to inference of fraud, or even of corruption. It would only be corrupt if Ms Madonsela somehow influenced the decision-making process or paid someone to provide her company with the contract.

It was also alleged that Ms Madonsela did not reveal the identity of the company, but a simple reading of the annual report of the SALRC at the time demonstrated that this was not true. Hence, there is a suspicious atmosphere around the whole event.



The incident demonstrates one of two things, both bad. Either Gen Cele is attempting or condoning this kind of accusing-the-accuser action to deflect attention from the rental agreement allegations, or police are clueless about what constitutes a real case. Three times now, they have been allowed to interfere with the actions of the public protector, a constitutionally mandated body.



There is no evidence that Gen Cele is directly involved, and it may be that some of his subordinates are simply trying to do him a favour without his knowledge.

But precisely because this is a possibility, Gen Cele and Mr Mthethwa need to demonstrate that their subordinates are acting within the bounds of their job descriptions and the explicit mandate of their superiors.

Unless they do so, the suspicion will always be that they are turning a blind eye to rogue police action, because it somehow protects them or deflects blame or just confuses the issue.



In all of this, the person who has come out the best is Ms Madonsela. She has responded to these claims in the same way she has been doing here job: with real energy and spunk. Her avowal that rooting out corruption is precisely the job she has been mandated to do, is absolutely correct. Mr Radebe has now come out in support of Ms Madonsela; a little slowly but nevertheless welcome.

As for Ms Madonsela, more strength to her arm.

[playtym]

Woman cop runs amok

Pietermaritzburg - A policewoman is expected to appear in court on Tuesday after she allegedly assaulted, swore at and threatened a Northdale family at gunpoint, apparently over an SMS carrying ****** undertones.

One of the family’s sons was arrested after the drama.

The distraught mother, whose name is being withheld to protect her son’s identity, told The Witness that the police officer and her husband arrived at her home at about 18:30 on Thursday, asking for her 15-year-old son.

The family did not know who the woman was since she was not in uniform.

When the teen went outside the police officer allegedly punched him in the face, kicking him and throwing him against the wall.

The mother, who was at work at the time, said the boy’s 18-year-old sister went inside to call their 27-year-old brother.

Assaulted

When he tried to stop the beating, the officer’s husband hit him with the butt of the gun.

The couple, who both had their guns out at this time, allegedly followed the 27-year-old inside the house, trying to break down the door where he was hiding for safety.

After another daughter, aged 21, came home and asked what was happening both daughters were assaulted, their mother said.

“My daughters were shoved, poked in the forehead and called k*****s. My family was humiliated … The rights of my children were violated in their own home,” said the mother.

A witness said the incident caused such a disturbance that most of the neighbours came out to see what was happening, but were too scared to intervene.

“All we could do was scream. But when she [the police officer] told her husband to fetch a bush knife and sjambok from the car, people told him to run for his life,” said the witness.

Back-up

Neighbours claim that the woman sped off in a police van with flashing blue lights after radioing for back-up. The assault allegedly continued after two more police vans and a private car arrived.

The mother told The Witness that she has since found out that the woman was angry about an SMS apparently sent by her 15-year-old son to the officer’s daughter, allegedly with ****** undertones.

The mother said her family were ridiculed and told to shut up before they could get any assistance when they tried to open a case at Mountain Rise police station.

The 27-year-old son was arrested on Friday and charged with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He made his first appearance in court on Monday after spending the weekend behind bars.

Captain Thulani Zwane confirmed that a case of assault and malicious damage to property has been opened against the police officer and her husband.

Eish! Can you say 'Banana Republic'?

[baboon6]

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/201...of-friend-saps

Police commissioner General Bheki Cele did not play a role in the appointment of his former bodyguard Thulani Shabalala, police said today.

"This process was dealt with by lieutenant-general [Nkruman] Mazibuko...and lieutenant general [Fanie] Masemola," spokesman Colonel Vish Naidoo said in a statement.
"Shabalala’s appointment was based solely on consideration of his vast experience and the high regard in which he is held by his fellow professionals in the field of protection and security services both in the public and private sectors."
He was responding to a Sunday Times report that claimed Shabalala, who was an ex-policeman and the best man at his Cele's wedding, jumped six ranks and began a R700,000 a-year job on July 1.
Officers told the publication the friendship between Cele and Shabalala was an "open secret".
In his new job as head of the police's protection and security services in KwaZulu-Natal, Brigadier Shabalala will oversee VIP protection and the safeguarding of "strategic installations".
"At no stage did the panel which recommended his appointment consider his personal relationship with General Cele or any other senior government official for that matter," Naidoo said.
Shabalala was one of 46 people who applied for the position.
"The post was advertised internally in May 2011...Shabalala had already applied for a interdepartmental transfer back into the SA Police Service at the time."
He explained that Shabalala's appointment, and that of many others, emerged when the force decided to persuade ex-police officers to rejoin them to "reverse the brain drain from the organisation".
"Only those ex-police officers who had not been out of the SAPS environment for more than five years qualify for this special recruitment drive," he said.
The criteria were only waived for those who were employed in the security field.
"Brigadier Thulani Shabalala was one such ex-policeman. Shabalala was integrated into the SAPS from uMkhonto WesiZwe [military veterans] in 1994.
"It is true that he served as Cele’s bodyguard in 1995. Just like it is true that he also alternated as former President Nelson Mandela’s bodyguard during the same period," said Naidoo.





After leaving the SAPS detective division in 2005 at the rank of warrant officer, Shabalala joined the eThekwini municipality as head of its internal forensic unit.
He later left to join the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport where he served as a compliance manager in the taxi violence sub-directorate.
At the time of rejoining the force, Shabalala was serving as head of risk management in the provincial Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) department.
"The brigadier rank in the SAPS is at the level of a director in the broader public service context."
It is common for people to demand an improved level and salary when recruited from one job to another, explained Naidoo.
"This was, however, not the case with Brigadier Shabalala.
"It has to be emphasized that, not only did Shabalala agree to rejoin the SAPS at the same level he used to occupy at Cogta, he also took a salary cut in the process."
Naidoo contended that Shabalala was a hard working officer, driven by the same deep-seated dedication that motivated him to "forego the comfort of home" and go into exile during apartheid.
He said the report by the Sunday Times was misleading and irresponsible.
"Whilst the SAPS has come to accept that the Sunday Times will stop at nothing in pursuit of its vendetta against General Cele, we still hope that the paper will not proceed to insult the sacrifice and commitment of an officer of Brigadier Shabalala’s calibre without at least putting up evidence to support its scurrilous insinuation."

Yeah sure he didn't have anything to do with it.

[playtym]

Outrage after irate cop wounds man for 'bad driving'



A NELSON Mandela Bay taxi driver was lucky to escape with his life yesterday after a policeman flew into a rage over his driving and allegedly slapped him in the face, pistol-whipped his “guardtjie” and then shot the driver in the head.
Terrified taxi passengers recounted how they had been travelling near Kwazakhele’s Njoli Square yesterday morning when the policeman – who has not been named pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident – pulled over Khanya Tshona, 22, for “driving s**t”, before trying to confiscate the keys of the vehicle.
In a series of events which led to Tshona’s shooting, his guardtjie (assistant), Vuyisa Sidlwayi, 22, was allegedly pistol-whipped by the policeman after he tried to help recover the taxi’s keys.


As a crowd formed around the feuding three, a warning shot was fired by the nervous policeman, which saw the crowd disperse as people ducked for cover, and Tshona and Sidlwayi returned to the taxi. But, according to eyewitnesses, as the taxi pulled off, the policeman, who had been making his way back to his police van, turned and allegedly fired another shot, which grazed Tshona’s forehead.
The policeman is now being investigated by the Independent Complaints Directorate (IDC) for attempted murder, while Tshona and Sidlwayi have been arrested for attempted robbery. The policeman has alleged the pair tried to wrestle his firearm from him after he pulled over the taxi.
Although Tshona was recovering in Livingstone Hospital yesterday evening, The Herald was not allowed access to him as he was under arrest.
Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said Sidlwayi was being held at the Kwazakhele police station.
When a Herald team arrived shortly after the shooting, a large crowd of onlookers had formed along Njoli Road, baying for the policeman’s blood.
“The guardtjie tried to intervene, but was whacked on the side of the head with a gun [by the policeman],” said passenger Nozuko Ndohlo, who had been making her way to KwaDwesi.
“It was totally unnecessary because the [taxi] guys weren’t even violent or rude this time around.”
Another passenger, Nosithembele Ngcolomba, said the policeman had been confrontational from the start and “would not reason with anybody”.
“[The policeman’s] partner told him to ‘let it go’ and so did the woman passenger they were with in the police van. But he just wouldn’t,” Ngcolomba said.
Four eyewitnesses said that at this stage a crowd had started to gather. They said the policeman had fired a shot into the air to disperse the crowd.
Another eyewitness, who did not give his name, said he had gone to investigate after hearing the first shot. He saw the taxi driver returning to his car and driving off, while the policeman walked back to his van.
“As he was about to reach the van, he turned and fired a shot at the taxi, which then swerved and landed on the pavement.”
Passengers Ndohlo, Ngcolomba and Nandipha Piti said they had heard a loud bang and seen the driver’s head turn. “People started screaming and crying. It was just chaos,” Piti said.
Onlookers hurled insults at the policeman, who was walking up and down the crime scene before being loaded into one of the police vehicles.
McDonald Ntantiso, head of the Border Alliance Taxi Association (Bata), lambasted the police over the “needless shooting”. “What caused the police to shoot at people who were not armed, instead of calmly sorting out a problem? These are people they [police] are supposed to protect,” Ntantiso said.
Beetge said the policeman claimed the taxi had been pulled over for reckless driving. “The policeman alleged the driver and his assistant had tried to take his firearm. In the ensuing scuffle, the policeman shot one suspect.”
He said a case of reckless driving had been opened against Tshona, and he and Sidlwayi had been arrested for attempted robbery. The policeman had not been arrested, but his firearm had been sent for ballistic testing. Action would be taken if he was found guilty by the IDC.

Shoot to kill!! Even if it's just because they're driving badly.

[playtym]

Cops 'too scared to wear uniforms'

Police officers are scared to patrol the streets and walk around in shopping centres in uniform as they fear being shot dead.
National police spokesperson colonel Tummi Shai said this in response to the 58 members who had been murdered since January.
“Police officials are being murdered like flies. Almost daily,” said Shai. “We are scared we will be next in line to be murdered. It has become so bad that officials, who have to take public transport to get home after their shifts, first get dressed in civilian clothes.
“They are scared to patrol the streets and walk in shopping centres because anyone can shoot you. When you leave your home in the mornings to go to work you don’t know if you will return. It doesn’t feel like an honour anymore to be a police official.”
The Institute for Race Relations said even though it appeared as though police officials were being killed at an increased rate, the opposite was true.
The amount of police murders had decreased by 61.9% since 1994 up to the 2009-2010 financial year.
“Even though the murder of every police official is a tragedy, it is important to point out that since 1994 considerable improvements have been made in getting the number of police murders to decrease annually,” the statement read.
Shai said even though the number of police murders had decreased, it was still terrible that 58 colleagues had died in six months at the hand of criminals.
Something had to be done about it because what had police officials done to deserve such treatment, Shai wanted to know.
Shai and Zweli Mnisi, spokesperson for Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa agreed that police couldn’t find police killers alone.
Mnisi was aware of a case where a man in a certain community boasted that he had murdered a police official. Instead of giving the man up to police, the community regarded him as a hero.
“Everybody out there is a potential murderer. Whether he murdered a police official or an ordinary citizen, the community has to help the police to catch them,” said Mnisi.
Mnisi said a multi-disciplinary committee had been created as part of police’s 10-point plan to fight police murders.
Mnisi said a team of detectives and members of the police’s unit for crime intelligence, as well as the Hawks, were focusing on police murders.
Shai said independent research had to be done into police murders to determine if police members had done something wrong so that it could be rectified.

So they're too scared to patrol the streets, or wear their uniforms, yet, according to this next report, the murder of police officers has dropped by 61% since 1994. I wish the same could said for the murder rate of the citizens they're paid to protect!

Maybe we need to scrap our ridiculous Firearm Control Act, issue guns to all the civilians and let them protect the police?

Police murder rate down 61% - SAIRR

The number of murdered police officers has declined by 61.9% since 1994, the SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) said on Wednesday.

"The trend in the number of police officials murdered in South Africa is definitely sharply downward," SAIRR said in a statement.

"This is contrary to some sentiment expressed in the past week that South Africa’s police officers are being murdered at an ever greater rate."

Fifty-eight police officers were murdered since January this year.

A police captain was shot dead and a station commissioner was wounded when a police clerk opened fire at the Rosebank police station in Johannesburg on Monday.

The clerk committed suicide.

"While every murder of a police officer is a tragedy, it is necessary to point out that considerable progress has been made in reducing the number of killings," SAIRR said.

The SAIRR report said that 265 officers were murdered in 1994. The number remained above 200 until it began to fall down in the early 2000s.

In 2004 it fell to under 100 and then averaged between 100 and 110 a year between 2006 to 2010.

"However, these later figures were still over 50% lower than... at the time of South Africa’s political transition."