Home

Victim of Ngcobo killings laid to rest

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Another police officer, who was among the five attacked and killed in Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape more than a week ago has been laid to rest. Constable Kuhle Mateta was buried at Ncorha village, outside Cofimvaba.

On Friday, was the burial of Warrant Officer Zuko Mbini outside Mthatha.

Members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) came in their numbers to pay their last respects to one of their own. Residents of Ncorha and other surrounding villages joined the men and women in blue in saying their last good byes to the slain officer.

Addressing mourners at the service, Deputy National Police commissioner of Crime Detection, Lt General Jacob Tsumane, declared war on criminals who attack and kill officers.

“We are not going to allow heartless criminals to mow down our members. Enough is enough. We must rise up to make sure that we protect the state. If you attack any of our members whether it’s a Defence Force member, a Municipality police officer, you are indirectly attacking the state,” he said.

Lt General Tsumane added that if anything, the attack on the officers has shown the SAPS that criminals have become sophisticated.

He said as a result, during the course of this year, a summit that seeks to highlight and discuss ways to protect police will be held.

“As you know that we are coming from the safety month which was February. During the safety month, we are embarked on visiting all the stations, specifically the rural stations, to make sure that we identify the issues of concern, specifically the security issues. We have identified some nineteen stations that we have put in the list so that we can prioritise them. Ngcobo is one of those stations. So we are working on making sure that all those stations for this financial year something must be done,” he added.

Meanwhile, provincial Police commissioner, Lt General Liziwe Ntshinga, says Ngcobo police station is among several in the province they have identified that will be upgraded as part of ensuring safety and security at police stations.

She says that this will be done before the end of this financial year.

Constable  Mateta’s father, Bulelani Mateta, described his son as a humble and active man who was helpful to the entire Mateta family. At the age of 26, he was the youngest of the five police officers to die.

“Another thing which makes me very happy is that my son was not killed in a tavern. He was at work, working protecting our country. The laws that have been passed by this government are the laws that favors criminals,” said the grieving father.

The soldier who also died in the crossfire, Freddy Mpandeni, was also laid to rest on Saturday in his village of Ngxogi, outside Ngcobo.

Five police officers and a soldier died after a group of gunmen opened fire randomly inside Ngcobo police station, killing three of them instantly.

Two others were hijacked at the station entrance and were later shot dead. Their bodies were found a few kilometres outside town with gunshot wounds.

Watch video below:

 

Author

MOST READ