The South African Policing Union (Sapu) declared Friday, 15 September, a dooms day for policing after three police officers were brutally murdered in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga on the same day, adding that police killings are becoming worse by the day in South Africa.
On Sunday, a 37-year-old off-duty police sergeant was fatally shot while visiting a friend in Khayelitsha.
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In the previous quarter, Minister of Police Bheki Cele released crime statistics showing that 31 police officers were killed in the country in a space of three months, between 1 April and 30 June.
In response to the quarterly crime statistics and the latest incidents, Sapu’s national spokesperson, Lesiba Thobakgale, said it is clear that criminals have launched an attack on the police and added that, by the looks of things, the situation is only getting worse.
‘It’s clear that police killings are continuing to grow in numbers and without a permanent solution to this crisis, we will continue to see it getting out of control, for the killing of one police officer is way too many,’ said Thobakgale.
‘Sapu wants to see a zero reporting when it comes to police killings for they are also members of the society, have families and must be protected.’
Earlier this year, Sapu called on the government and SAPS to declare the killing of officers treason in an effort to put an end to police murders. These recent incidents see the union resolute on their call.
‘We remain focused on our call of having police killings declared treason, for it is a crime against the State which carries the responsibility to protect the police officers who serve its interests,’ said Thobakgale.
‘We are making a call to the members of the society who are also faced with the high crime situation to join us in our call of the “protect the protectors” campaign.’
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