One police officer has been shot and killed in an exchange of fire with suspects in Ntuzuma north of Durban.
Another police officer was wounded and has been rushed to hospital.
#sabcnews Pics: Supplied. A police officer has been killed another officer wounded and rushed to hospital in a shootout with suspects in Ntuzuma area north of Durban. pic.twitter.com/Bu1UpEtJAB
— Nonkululeko Hlophe (@Leko3) October 17, 2023
At a separate crime scene in the Mzinyathi area at iNanda also north of Durban, police say four suspects were wounded in a shootout with officers.
Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the scene where the police officer was shot dead.
“As police we have to go out there and make sure that communities are safe and the response must be equal to what has happened here. You can’t just lose a member on the field of where the fire was exchanged. As they go out, as I’ve said, I repeat it, the only price to pay for that member, the only price to pay for that long list of twelve people that are killed in two months . . . which means these guys were still going to increase the list, the only price must be the blood.”
Cele says there are groups of criminals who have killed over ten people in the less than two months in areas north of Durban.
Cele says police are following up leads on these groups.
“There are quite several groups here, as I’ve said that in Mzinyathi area as I move from here, I am going there. Fortunately, no member has been injured there but there are four people that have been shot there. I’m told they are still alive. They are still on the crime scene, the crime scene is still active. So, it is clear that criminals have declared war not just to the police but to the community because all these people that have been killed are members of the community including those that are involved in CPF. So, these are criminals that are wiping anything that is facing the law, anything that is trying to achieve stability.”
