A second police officer has been killed in KwaZulu-Natal in less than a week.
The 25-year-old officer was killed in Pinetown, west of Durban, on Tuesday morning.
In another incident, a 48-year-old warrant officer Theena Pillay was shot and killed outside his Phoenix home on his way to work at the weekend.
Pillay returned fire and killed one of the suspects.
Police are still searching for his accomplices.
Police Minister Bheki Cele, who is on a safety drive in the province, is expected to attend Pillay’s funeral on Tuesday.
He says the slain policemen were targeted because of their stellar work in fighting criminality in KwaZulu-Natal.
“These two clearly they’ve been targeted. I am told that the other one in Phoenix was shot as he was entering home. He was followed. Clearly they wanted to take him off. I’m told he was very good when it comes to fighting the drugs. The young man was 25-years old. It looks like he was off duty, was following something. So, it looks like criminals are targeting the police and indeed criminality cannot coexist with policing. We make a call with all the police to say they must not die with their guns they must be vigilant.”
Chairperson for the Phoenix Community Policing Forum Umesh Singh has meanwhile described the 48-year-old Pillay as a dedicated officer and community member.
Singh says, “He worked very delicately, it’s actually shocking for something of this nature to happen to somebody who’s always out there safeguarding the lives of others in the area. His personality was perfect. He had a fantastic way of actually relating to people, but more especially he was a truly dedicated worker.”
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