Western Cape police will not be intimidated by the recent attacks on law enforcement officers, the police commissioner said.
|||Cape town - Western Cape police will not be intimidated by the recent attacks on law enforcement officers, says provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Arno Lamoer.
At a press conference on Monday, Lamoer revealed that there had been more than 150 attacks on police officers in the Western Cape since April - three of them fatal. He said the attacks were either by shooting, stoning or physical assault.
“It is really a sad state of affairs because these attacks mean an attack on the community, [an] attack on the state.”
Lamoer’s comments come after three law enforcement officers were killed while on duty in Cape Town last week. He said two men have been arrested in connection with the three murders.
A 28 year-old man was arrested on Sunday and will appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday in connection with the murders of two Hout Bay police officers, Phindiwe Nikani and Mandisi Nduku.
Lamoer added that an 18-year-old man, Sandisile Ncapayi, had appeared in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court on Monday in connection with the murder of metro police Senior Superintendent Mphumelelo Xakekile.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said the case against Ncapayi had been postponed to October 23 so that an identity parade could be held.
Ndabazalila said Ncapayi would be remanded in custody and that the identity parade would take place in the next few days.
Lamoer said there had been more than 150 attacks on police officers since April and that three had been fatal. He said it had been a sad week not only for the SA Police Services but for all law enforcement agencies in the province.
“[Detectives have been] working around the clock since last Wednesday for the arrests of these people and they will appear in court,” he said.
“We condemn it in the strongest possible way that people can attack law enforcement officers who are just doing their duty in their communities.
“The work of the police will never stop. We will never be intimidated by anyone that feels that they can try and intimidate members of the South African police and also the other law enforcement agencies of this province.
“The three members who were killed in the line of duty are heroes for us that give their lives for the work that they do and the work that they love.”
The memorial services would be arranged this week.
neo.maditla@inl.co.za
Cape Argus