Man suspected of killing Philippi cops shot dead

A 29-year-old man suspected of being part of the killing of two law enforcement officers earlier this month in Philippi was on Monday night shot dead by members of the Special Task Force.

Western Cape police officers approached the man at Monwabisi Beach, near Khayelitsha, late on Monday night after receiving a tip-off, said spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut.

“During a shootout between members of our Special Task Force and the suspect, he and his unknown accomplice were both fatally wounded. The firearm the suspects were armed with, was confiscated.”

Earlier this month, two City of Cape Town law enforcement officials died in hospital after being shot and wounded in Philippi.

The officers, Simthembile Nyangiwe and Jan Niewehuis, were ambushed while on duty at a construction project in Sweet Homes, and robbed of their firearms, News24 reported.

Traut said the 29-year-old who was killed on Monday night had been sought for their deaths. He was also wanted for multiple charges of murder, attempted murder and rape in Samora Machel, Nyanga and Philippi East.

Cape Town safety and security mayoral committee member JP Smith explained on Tuesday that five arrests have also previously been made in connection with the attack on the law enforcement officials.

“There was an arrest made of four men and one woman who were in possession of [the officers’] firearms and two other firearms… as well as their radios.

“In that process, we then also determined that one of those people had been involved in another death of a female SAPS officer not three years before that. So you have a serial offender here who has repeatedly engaged in attacks on officers,” JP Smith said.

He added that this pointed to a failure of the justice system.

“What you have is a massive failure of the criminal justice system because, frankly, that person should not be out on parole, he should not be released to repeat these offences,” Smith said.

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