Police officer who killed Tembisa Hospital nurse is awake, Ipid confirms

The police officer who shot and killed his girlfriend at Tembisa Hospital before turning a gun on himself is now awake, but is still in critical condition.

This was confirmed by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesperson, Grace Langa on Tuesday.

She said that the 31-year-old officer was still under police guard despite his condition.

“Ipid would like to confirm that that suspect police officer is still in hospital… he is under guard. The suspect is able to open his eyes, but he cannot talk, and he is on a ventilator. He is also being incubated as we speak,” said Langa.

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Langa said it was still unclear at this time when the officer would be making his court appearance after the 48 hours of arrest has lapsed.

“The Ipid had to submit a letter of his condition to the court and the court will give us a new date where he will have to appear and speak for himself, we hope that at that particular time he will be in a position to speak for himself.”

The police officer – who was on duty – entered the hospital in Ekurhuleni with a state vehicle and called his partner to the parking lot, where he shot her seven times before turning the gun on himself.

The girlfriend was certified dead on the scene by paramedic, but the officer did not die, and was airlifted to Milpark Hospital with a bullet wound on his cheek.

A case of murder was opened at Tembisa Saps, according to Langa.

The police constable is attached to the Ekurhuleni Cluster Tracing Team.

‘Underlying challenges’

Reacting to the incident recently, Popcru condemned the shooting, but argued that the root of the problem was the environment police officers operate in.

“Such regrettable acts dent the image of the Saps as an organisation, and while we abhor and sturdily discourage such acts, their frequency among members, we believe, are partly as a result of the deep-rooted underlying challenges faced by many among the Saps ranks,” the union said in a statement last week.

Popcru said suicides among Saps members were “alarming”, adding that South Africa still “struggles with some of the highest rates of violent crime in the world, and pressing human tragedies compete for police attention”.

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“This state of affairs is further compounded by the limited chances of promotions, the shortages of resources and unfair practices in relation to compensation, coupled with the reality that there are inconsistencies in leadership, which continues to cause divisions in the law enforcement environment.

“All these challenges are faced at a time when the service is constrained by budgetary cuts, which pose serious risks to the wellbeing of police officers, and has demonstrated the correlation between the lack of resources and the demands of the service. 

“Their wellbeing cannot be disconnected from the broader environment in which they operate,” the union continued.