Crime

LISTEN: ‘Any attack on police, is an attack on the state’ – Police Ministry

The Police Ministry has called for the harshest sentences for the murderers of the country’s police officers.

This comes after 49-year old Warrant Officer Roger Mavundla and his wife and children aged between 17 and 10 were ambushed and shot at while inside their vehicle.

The officer, his wife and two of his children sustained fatal wounds and died on the scene. A third child is being treated at a local hospital.

No outcry

Police Minister General Bheki Cele and Saps management led by General Fannie Masemola will on Tuesday visit Port Edward in KwaZulu-Natal, following the murder of Mavundla and the three family members, including his 10-year-old daughter.

Speaking to The Citizen, Ministry spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said there is not enough outrage for police killings in the country.

“There is not enough outrage from first of all the public, the same public officers are meant to be protecting and serving. It is quite unacceptable that 22 police officers are killed in a period of three months.”

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Work with police

Themba has urged communities across South Africa to work with police to bring an end to the scourge of killings.

“The people who are committing these crimes live in communities, they don’t live in a mountain somewhere. They live amongst them, they know who they are and by keeping quiet, they are just condoning what they are doing.”

“The ministry as well as well as the Saps management are of the view that any attack on the police service or a member of the police service is literally and attack on the state,” said Themba.

The visit to Port Edward will see the provincial Saps brief the ministry on the crime patterns in the policing area and interventions in place to deal with violent crime and other contact crimes.