Durban - KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community safety and Liaison, Sipho Hlomuka, has appealed to the SAPS for the speedy arrest of the suspects who killed an uMlazi police officer and injured another on Monday.
A statement on Wednesday said the suspects randomly opened fire at police while they were on duty at Mega City at around 8pm, killing one officer and wounding another. Police recovered five 9mm spent cartridges on the scene.
The department said police are investigating one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
“Preliminary reports reveal that one police officer died on the scene (Constable Andile Bongani Magwaza), constable S Mkhize was rushed to the nearest hospital for treatment and Constable N Mathengela did not sustain any injuries but is still in a state of shock,” said the department.
Hlomuka said the killing of police officers is a major concern.
“We want to call upon the top police management to augment the number of personnel tasked with investigating this case. Attacking police officers is tantamount to waging a war against the state. We cannot sit idle while criminals continue to undermine the authority of the state,” said Hlomuka.
The MEC strongly condemned the incident and said active citizenry in the fight against crime is important and appealed to members of the public to assist the police with any information that might be helpful in the investigation.
The department said Hlomuka held an information sharing session with representatives of the provincial structures of the various community crime-fighting structures on Tuesday.
It said the aim of the session was to strengthen relations with the structures in order to ensure that the department achieves its mandate of building a crime free province.