Senior Cape Town cop shot dead in driveway

A senior Cape Town police officer was shot dead on Thursday morning.

The man is understood to have been gunned down in the driveway of his house in Bishop Lavis.

Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said crime scene experts were still on the scene of the shooting, where the 52-year-old lieutenant colonel attached to the Firearm, Liquor and Second Hand Goods Control Unit was murdered.

“It is alleged the official had just got into his vehicle at 6.50am when an unknown gunman in a vehicle fired several shots at him. He died on the scene,” she said.

Acting Western Cape Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Sindile Mfazi conveyed his condolences to the officer’s loved ones and described him as a dedicated police official.

His colleagues and family were receiving trauma counselling, Potelwa said.

One of the ward councillors in the Bishop Lavis precinct, Angus McKenzie, described the officer’s murder as “senseless”.

“I strongly encourage that no stone is left unturned in bringing this disgusting and vile individual or individuals to book that have committed this attack against our community and country,” he said.

“No law enforcement official deserves to die in such a way!”

The officer’s name is known, but will only be published when his next of kin are informed of his death.

According to Lieutenant General Christine Mgwenya, 29 police officers were killed in the line of duty during the 2017/2018 financial year. However, that number is lower than the 56 killed while off duty over the same period.

Data going back to 2012/13 indicates that off-duty unnatural deaths far outnumber the deaths of police officers while on duty, according to a SAPS briefing to Parliament in 2015.

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