DURBAN - POLICE are still searching for the killers of an off-duty Sydenham policeman after gunmen stormed a tavern in Inanda on Friday night.
Police reports state that two men entered the tavern and opened fire on the patrons. It is alleged that Constable T I Dube drew his service pistol, but the men shot him and then took his firearm. Dube was rushed to the Inanda Newtown Clinic where he died.
Another patron, Snenkosi Wonderboy Mhlongo, was also shot in the fracas and died at the scene. A patron was shot on his thigh and another on his arm. Police believe the motive to have been a robbery.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI-Hawks) spokesperson Captain Simphiwe Mhlongo said Inanda SAPS are investigating two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and robbery. No arrests have been made.
In a separate incident, a 34-year-old police constable based at Greenwood Park SAPS alleged that he was robbed of his state firearm while waiting at a bus stop for public transport in Molweni, near Hillcrest.
It is alleged that a car stopped next to him. Three men got out of the car and searched him. The men allegedly took cash and the firearm with 15 rounds of ammunition. Hillcrest SAPS are investigating the incident.
According to the quarterly crime statistics from cases reported to the SAPS from July 1, 2021, to September 30, 2021, a 20.7% increase in murder was recorded. Between July 2021 and the end of September 2021, 6 163 people were killed in South Africa.
According to this data, 424 of the murders occurred at taverns, shebeens, nightclubs and liquor stores. Liquor outlets are the third most likely place to be killed in South Africa.
A total of 23 SAPS officers were killed between July and September 2021. Six were killed in KwaZulu-Natal.
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said there were concerns that during these statistical releases, there has not been any formulation of measures to curb the trend of police murders.
“It is expected that based on the previously released stats, they were supposed to look into urgent interventions addressing this trend. Crime statistics should at all times be used as a tool to provide law enforcement officers with sufficient data for use in determining budgetary formulations, planning, and the allocation of resources and police operations.”
Daily News