Cape Town - A member of the VIP protection unit assigned to Safety and Security MEC Reagen Allen’s security detail who shot himself at a funeral has shone a light on the mental health issues within the SAPS.
Siyabonga Mngcongo, 44, from the Eastern Cape was in critical condition in hospital after he placed his service pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger in an apparent attempted suicide.
The incident took place on the church grounds of the VGK (Uniting Reform Church) in Halt Road, Elsies River, on Saturday morning, where Mngcongo was found behind the church garage with an exit wound to his left cheek.
He had been attending the funeral of a slain Law Enforcement officer, said MEC Reagen Allen.
“I am deeply shocked and hurt by what transpired. I’d like to wish the officer a speedy recovery. I hope we’ll be able to get to the bottom of why this occurred,” Allen said.
SAPS spokesperson Robert Netshiunda said on Sunday that they were investigating the cause.
“As yet, we haven’t found out if the member has been having problems or bad thoughts but we are going to get (to the bottom), trying to find out. We’ll even go as far as looking at his behaviour leading up to the incident.”
He said SAPS has professional staff working in its Employee Health and Wellness (EHW) section who render psychological support to members when they’re experiencing mental health issues.
“We risk our lives every day when we report for duty, and that on its own is a burden on somebody’s health and the fact that it happened at the funeral of another officer … we don’t know if that triggered anything because we don’t want to speculate but the environment we work under is very strenuous and it needs officers to regularly visit those wellness services,” Netshiunda said.
Police union Popcru has urged members to make use of EHW.
Popcru’s provincial secretary, Pat Raolane, said: “The employer (SAPS) has all the resources in terms of counselling. It is the duty of the individual member if he has a problem to raise that problem with the employer so there can be some intervention.
“As long as the employee does not raise anything we will not be in a position to know whether they have problems or not but this (incident) suggests that we must start to persuade them to go to EHW.”
Now watch: