KWAZULU-NATAL is struggling to shed its image of being the murder capital of South Africa with a total of 151 mass murder incidents (where two or more people are killed) reported in the province during the 2023/2024 financial year.
The staggering and shocking figure was confirmed by the provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi as he delivered his address at the SAPS KZN Excellence Awards 2024 at the Durban ICC on Friday. He said that 380 people were murdered in those incidents and that police were successful in arresting 67 suspects.
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“The killing of famous musician Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes and his friend, Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane, in February last year put the police in KwaZulu-Natal under the microscope. With the eyes of the whole world on the ability of police in KwaZulu-Natal to crack what appeared to be a complex and mysterious case, there was no room for failure. Excellent detective work unmasked the suspects, and they were arrested. Even the Kingdom of Eswatini was not too far for our team to reach in search of the suspects,” said Lieutenant-General Mkhwanazi.
He highlighted the number of police officers killed on duty in the province, confirming the loss of nine SAPS members. Seven of them were shot and killed by criminals and one fell down a cliff while taking cover from heavy gunfire from criminals after he responded to an active cash-in-transit robbery. The ninth officer was hit by a truck when she was attending to a road accident.
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“Our police officers are killed by illegal guns that criminals use to torment the communities. When police return fire after finding themselves under attack by criminals, some armchair critics, the self-proclaimed so-called experts or analysts say that police are trigger-happy. We refuse to be lectured by people who have never set foot on the streets that we police. Police officers have been issued with tools of trade for a reason, and no police officer must die at the hands of a criminal,” said Mkhwanazi.
He applauded the men and women in blue who risk their lives every day when they put on the uniform. “Congratulations to all the nominees. We have over 21 000 personnel in the police service in KwaZulu-Natal, and you are sitting here as a nominee. That is a huge achievement. May the best man or woman ascend the podium and indulge in the fruits of their excellent service,” said Mkhwanazi.
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