KHUMBULA – Barely a week after the provincial police commissioner,
Adv Gen Mark Magadlela hosted a provincial prayer day against the killing of police in the province, a 38-year-old constable apparently died from a gunshot wound to the head during a fight with his wife who is also a police officer.
Investigations into the matter also remain clandestine as the case has been transferred to the Independent Police Investigation Directorate (Ipid).
The spokesperson could not be found to share a view on the case despite numerous attempts to get hold of him.
Brig Selvy Mohlala, spokesperson for the provincial police, confirmed that an inquest was opened and the matter had been transferred to Ipid, “We cannot make an arrest because the Ipid must investigate first and come up with recommendations to say who must be taken to court,” he said.
The shooting incident left the couple’s colleagues and family at loggerheads and in disbelief, mostly because the incident happened in the same area where the police prayer day was held.
Mpumalanga News also learnt that the victim, Const Dumisani David Mawela was stationed with the public-order policing unit in Hazyview, while his 33-year-old wife was a constable at Daantjie Police Station. Mawela’s grieving father, Mr George Mzubase Mawela said he had the shock of his life when he received the news while watching television at his home in Clau Clau on October 1 at around 20:00.
“The caller told me that David had shot himself and when we arrived at the scene, we found the place surrounded by police officers and family members from the deceased’s in-laws.
“My son’s lifeless body was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He was still wearing his police uniform and his service pistol was still tucked to his waist. His wife’s pistol was the one used to end his life,” he explained.
“No one has been arrested yet, and there were only two people in the house. However, we believe the police will do a thorough investigation to come up with the answers as to what really happened and who pulled the trigger.”
This newspaper also learnt that threatening each other with their service pistols was not a new thing with this couple as earlier last year the man threatened to shoot his wife after issues of infidelity surfaced.
“That was only a threat and nobody was killed. The second time was when one of them was so angry that shots were fired at their vehicle, but nobody thought they
might end up killing each other like this,” added Mawela.
