The police union, Popcru, says it is disturbed by the increase in attacks on police members in the line of duty over the past three years.
The union has commemorated the lives of 29 of its members who have died in the Mthatha cluster in the Eastern cape during this time.
In the last five years 80 police members were killed while on duty.
The killing of five police officers during the robbery of the Ngcobo police station is still a vivid memory highlighting the scourge. The families of the Ngcobo victims are still not coming to terms with their loss.
Suicide among police members is also of concern. Constable Lutho Panduva’s took his own life, something his wife wants nobody else to do.
A police widow, Latoya Panduva says: “I think they need to be properly trained to know that committing suicide is not an option. Their job is to help people, not to take their guns and point to them and end their own lives.”
Despite the high number of police murders, the officers remain committed.
A police officer Constable Ntombovuyo Mngqubisa-Qakaza says: “We are going forward and we will never lose focus because of the things that happen to us.”
Popcru is calling on communities to work with the police.
Eastern Cape Popcru Deputy Secretary, Xolani Prusente says: “Police killers are not coming from the sky. They are actually from the community where we are in. So it cannot be correct. Our view is that anybody who is killing the police, that individual is against the state.”
Correction Services Kakuhle Mpongoma says: “We are however saying to the members of the community, they must also assist the departments of government. They must not contribute to smuggling contraband substances. They must not contribute to the crime that we are fighting.”
With a combined effort and assistance from community members, law enforcement officials hope the spike in police killings will decrease.
