Cape Town - Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille has offered a R50 000 reward for information leading to arrests for the “heinous crime” of the killing of a metro policeman in Khayelitsha.
Two unidentified men shot Senior Superintendent Mpumelelo Hubert Xakekile of the Metro Police Tactical Response Unit as he was issuing a fine to a minibus taxi driver at the intersection of Lansdowne Road and Mew Way in Khayelitsha.
The gunmen fired several rounds at Xakekile.
“The policeman was shot in his arm and lower chest and died on the scene. This happened about 7pm,” said police spokesman Frederick Van Wyk.
Police took a statement from the taxi driver
.
De Lille extended her condolences to Xakekile’s family and his colleagues for “the tragic and unnecessarily” loss of a husband, father and fellow worker.
“He was 50 years old and married with one child. He had been a committed member of the city’s law enforcement agencies for 10 years,” De Lille said.
“I condemn this senseless act wholeheartedly and am shocked by the callous and cruel behaviour of the individuals involved. They targeted an individual who was effecting the critical role of ensuring that the law is obeyed in Cape Town.
“I have requested the city manager and executive director for safety and security to please make a R50 000 reward available.”
Xakekile’s uncle, Sipho Xakekile, also a policeman, said he received a call from the police control room telling him of his nephew’s death.
“I immediately called the family and asked that we congregate at [Mpumelelo’s] home in Mandalay,” he said.
Although the situation he found himself in was hard, he needed to be strong and comfort his nephew’s family.
Sipho Xakekile described his nephew as a dedicated, jovial man who loved his job.
“He was a good man. He was happily married and had a daughter in high school,” he said.
On Wednesday night, Khayelitsha residents crowded the pavements as police and forensic teams worked at the scene.
A resident, who declined to be named, said: “I can’t believe this happened while it was still light and the area was so busy. He was just doing his job.”
Police officers are killed at a rate of one in 10 days, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega has said.
While everything was being done to protect South Africa’s 200 000 officers, it was also up to communities to play their part.
“The people who murder police officers are sons, nieces, nephews and daughters. We need the community’s help to fight this,” Moneyweb has quoted Phiyega as saying.
Training was not the issue because in most cases police officers who were killed were ambushed – as was the case with the shooting of Xakekile’s nephew in Khayelitsha on Wednesday night.
* Anyone with information can contact the nearest police station, and ask for Captain Arte Bavuma on 082 469 1532, Crime Stop anonymously on 0860 010 111 or SMS Crimeline anonymously on 32211.
Cape Times