LIMPOPO – The tragic shooting of a woman by her police warrant officer husband last Wednesday, which was witnessed by the couple’s children, could have been prevented.
This is according to a whistleblower in the South African Police Service, who told Polokwane Observer that requests to have the officer’s firearm seized on the basis of aggressive behaviour, are nothing new.
“As in many previous instances, we requested a high-ranking official to grant permission for the warrant officer’s firearm to be confiscated, and the official said this would be done.”
It never was, according to the source.
This, he said, led to the tragic shooting of Millicent Ntjana at their home in Seshego Zone 8 in front of her children.
Her husband, warrant officer Jeffrey Ntjana, was charged with murder following the incident.
On the evening of October 12, the 54-year-old Ntjana is said to have shot his wife with his SAPS-issued firearm before fleeing the scene.
At around 20:00, after the incident had occurred, taxi operators discovered the children walking around aimlessly.
A witness told Polokwane Observer that the children asked for assistance “as their father had shot their mother”.
The police were informed and officers discovered Millicent’s body in the house.
In a statement, the police confirmed that Ntjana handed himself over to their station in Mogwadi four days later.
He appeared in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The whistleblower, however, says the incident is indicative of poor follow-up work by some senior officials.
“We have on many occasions witnessed violent behaviour from him towards his wife, and we hoped that a team would be dispatched to seize his firearm. When we asked for Jeffrey to be disarmed for his own protection and those around him, the official told us that it was his responsibility to do so, even though on previous occasions we were given the authority to seize firearms from colleagues. Sometimes, our bosses are the ones who fail the communities while we are made out to be the lazy ones,” the source said.
Contacted for comment, the senior official in question referred Polokwane Observer to the SAPS Communications Department.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mamphaswa Seabi said the service would not be at liberty to comment, based on the anonymity of the whistleblower.
“Until we know who is making these accusations, we can’t comment. The official can’t clarify the matter if he doesn’t know who he is at fault with.”
He explained the disarming procedure as per Section 102 of the Firearms Control Act as follows: “If a member or anyone threatens a person/s including their spouse and the matter is brought to police’s attention officially, a designated police officer will confiscate the firearm for safekeeping after signing the appropriate documents to prove the seizure as per the application of Section 3 of the Domestic Violence Act.”
