Johannesburg - A top Soweto policeman has called on officers to defend themselves by shooting back when faced by criminals who are armed.
“When you are attacked, what’s stopping you from defending yourself?” Moroka cluster commander Major-General Papile Fred Kekana asked on Tuesday during the memorial service for Flying Squad officer Sergeant Sharon Ralinala who was shot dead in Eldorado Park last week.
“Suspensions,” a woman in the crowd shot back but Kekana didn’t back down, saying: “Nothing (should stop you). If that person has a gun facing you, shoot that person. Destroy that person.”
While Ralinala’s family and friends took turns sharing memories of her great sense of humour and kind spirit, the South African Police Union (Sapu) and the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) used the event to address their concerns about the killing of police officers.
“More than 70 men and women in blue have been ‘butchered since the beginning of the year,” said Sapu representative Mogale Mmutle. He said police officers were on their own to defend themselves against police killings.
“Even when our members are fighting back, the courts of law are fighting them today,” he added, referring to the Krugersdorp policemen who were arrested after video footage surfaced of them shooting a fallen suspect.
He called out everyone – from the media to the minister of police – for failing to support police officers. “There’s no way police killers are getting bail and light sentences while our own members who were clearly defending themselves will be denied bail,” he said, adding that the Krugersdorp officers would be appealing their bail denial in the high court.
Popcru representative Naughty Magoai urged officers attending the service to join a march later this week to express their concerns about the number of police officers killed and the lack of sympathy for officers involved in similar cases to the Krugersdorp one.
He said that officers should not go to work if more SAPS members were killed.
The crowd erupted in cheers and the room filled with voices singing “Siyaya” (We’re going). Only one of the grief-stricken relatives could find the energy to sing with them.
Programme director Lieutenant Alfred Monametse had to calm down the crowd, reminding them to “respect the occasion”.
Provincial community policing board chairman Andy Mashaile said the policing board had held three meetings with the deputy minister of justice about the treatment of police killers.
Kekana said officers needed to remember that management was there for them.
To that everyone in the room remained silent.
He said that any officer not on duty during the march could take part but others who had to work should report for duty.
Ralinala, 44, didn’t have a chance to defend herself.
She was in the back seat of a police vehicle that was in pursuit of the occupants of a BMW on the Golden Highway near Eldorado Park on November 9.
Before any of the officers had time to react, shots were fired. Ralinala was struck in the head and the police vehicle crashed into a tree.
Ralinala was airlifted to hospital but died from her injuries on Friday.
Her brother Vhonani Ralinala on Tuesday called her a “queen”, saying: “She was a woman who believed in herself, a strong woman.”
Ralinala’s relief commander Captain Romeo Vassen struggled as his voice cracked with emotion. “The devotion of her family was the foundation of her action, the anchor of her life,” Vassen said.
Ralinala is survived by her two daughters.
The Star
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