Cops killed in Nongoma cash-in-transit heist to be laid to rest this week

THE two police officers who died in the line of duty following a shoot-out with heavily armed cash-in-transit robbers in Nongoma on Friday evening, will be laid to rest this week.

The funeral for Lieutenant Colonel Carl van der Vyver (51) of the police Crime Intelligence Unit (CI) is expected to take place in Durban tomorrow, while Warrant Officer Sfundo Erasmus Musa (39) of the Special Task Force (STF) will be laid to rest in Port Shepstone on Saturday, with a memorial service held in his honour in Durban on Thursday.

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Van der Vyver and Musa were part of units which had been following up on intelligence regarding a planned cash-in-transit heist.

When a group of heavily armed suspects attacked a G4S Security vehicle with explosives at around 7pm on the Hlabisa road, police responded quickly, which resulted in the shoot-out.

Seven robbers were also killed, while one female officer had to be airlifted to hospital from the scene after she was shot in the leg and seriously wounded.

More resources needed
In a media statement, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Francois Beukman, said SAPS lost highly trained members who were at the forefront in the fight against violent crime.

He said the deaths of Van der Vyver and Musa were not only a big loss to the nation, but a huge loss to SAPS, the specialised units and their respective families.

The committee extends its heartfelt condolences to the next-of kin and families of the fallen police members. They paid the highest price to ensure that ordinary South Africans do not become the victims of criminality.

Beukman emphasised that more resources should be allocated to specialised units who need to deal with highly trained and heavy-armed CIT robbers and other high risk operations.

Members of the specialised units face life-threatening and dangerous situations daily and all necessary steps should be taken from a budgetary, logistical and training perspective to support them appropriately.