Third metro cop killed in Tshwane this month

Death struck the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) again this week when an off-duty officer was killed in a face-off with thieves in the Pretoria CBD.

This is the third death of a TMPD officer this month.

Constable Ipeleng Kabelo Llale was found dead with multiple stab wounds in the early hours of Sunday morning in the CBD.

Details about the killing of the 27-year-old, who was permanently appointed by the TMPD in December 2015, were still sketchy.

But Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said Llale intervened as the thieves were robbing someone of their cellphone.

“He was trying to help someone who was being robbed and the robbers turned on him. They apparently chased him, stabbed him and left him in the street.

“Further details surrounding his death are unknown as it is still under investigation by the police,” Mahamba said.

No arrests have been made yet.

At the time of his death, Llale was a member of the TMPD special operations unit.

“He served the department and the community at large. The arrangements for his memorial service and funeral will be communicated soon.”

Last week, 29-year-old Constable Thinus Swart was found dead, lying in a pool of blood in his flat in Hercules. Swart was discovered by a colleague after he didn’t report for work that morning.

“His colleagues made numerous phone calls trying to get hold of him, but to no avail. One colleague who lives in the same complex as him decided to go check up on him.

“That is when he made the gruesome discovery,” Mahamba explained.

Swart’s lifeless body was in a pool of blood with his service pistol laying next to him. He had a bullet wound.

“The possibility of a suicide could not be ruled out. An inquest docket has been opened by the Saps for further investigation.”

Swart’s death came just hours after the burial of another TMPD officer, Constable Mento Yanta.

He was shot dead when he tried to foil an armed robbery in Lyttelton, Centurion.

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