The clear skies and sprawling hills of the sleepy Eastern Cape town of eNgcobo hide the palpable pain and grief that has befallen this area. The murder of five police officers and a retired South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldier has brought multitudes of mourners to the local church to remember the officers.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee of Police, Mr Francois Beukman, who attended the memorial service to offer support on behalf of Parliament, said that the incoming Minister of Police and police management must move with speed to address the safety challenges at police stations.
“The killing of police officers has reached an alarming rate and this directly undermines the rule of law. The killing of police officers is a direct affront to the state and must be addressed with immediate effect,” Mr Beukman said.
He further said that Parliament and the Committee's thoughts and prayers are with families of the fallen officers. “They are indeed our heroes. We will continue to pray for the families they leave behind,” Mr Beukman said.
A representative of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), said the murder of police officers cannot continue. He suggested that a consultative process between the union and government must be held to find solutions.
“We need each other to effectively deal with the problem. We must not normalise the killing of police officers and we cannot continue holding commemorative events at the Union Buildings without doing something concrete to resolve the high rate of murder rate,” the Popcru representative said.
Popcru further raised concerns in relations to the high turnover rate of Ministers of Police and National Commissioners.
Malatswa Molepo
27 February 2018
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