The Police Ministry remains encouraged that the SAPS continues to crack the murder cases of police officers killed in the line of duty.
As the country marks Police Safety Month, the Minister of Police, General Bheki Cele and Deputy Minister, Cassel Mathale attended the official funeral services of slain SAPS members, Sergeant Nkosinathi Ngcobo in KwaZulu-Natal and Sergeant Pumlani Dastile in the Eastern Cape.
Both the members were killed in the line of duty, Sergeant Dastile was shot and killed by two suspects on the 23rd of August 2021, while following up on information on a business robbery.
Attending the funeral service, Deputy Minister Mathale praised the police for arresting the suspects.
“I must commend the Hawks and SAPS for acting swiftly in ensuring that Sgt Dastile’s suspected killers are apprehended within a few days of the incident. This is the manner in which we need to deal with all criminals who think they can challenge the state’ security by taking a life of a police officer.”
In Kwa-Zulu Natal Sergeant Ngcobo from the Richards Bay police station was shot and killed, while driving in his state vehicle and the officers’ service pistol was stolen.
Delivering the eulogy at the officers’ final send-off, Minister Cele told mourners that four suspects linked to the murder have been arrested.
He assured the Ngcobo family and mourners in attendance that crimes against police officers will never go unpunished.
“It is such arrests that restore public confidence and restore morale in the police service that is dampened by the killing of officers in blue. I am sure police will feel comforted when these killers are kept behind bars for a long time. We are encouraged by the recent sentencing of a convicted police killer who was handed down a life sentence by the Polokwane High Court for charges relating to the death of a police officer, Constable Petrus Delange.”
On Saturday, the South African Police Service in Gauteng will bid Sergeant Sharon Mogale farewell in Ekurhuleni. The member was shot and killed while inside a retail shop in Tembisa; Ekurhuleni and her and her partners’ service pistols were stolen.