Durban - Two KwaZulu-Natal police officers were fatally shot in two separate incidents on Friday.
Detective Constable Thandoluhle Ndo Mhlongo, who was stationed at Kranskop police station, was killed during a shootout in Kranskop near KwaDukuza, while Warrant Officer Radebe, who was stationed at KwaMakhutha police station, was driving his private bakkie along the N2 highway near eManzimtoti, just before the Seadoone Road off-ramp, when an unknown number of men in a white Audi A3 opened fire on his vehicle.
Mhlongo’s father, Sazi, told the Daily News that his son’s death was a loss to the community and the country.
Mhlongo senior, chairperson of the Kranskop Community Policing Forum, said his son was an honest police officer and felt this was probably why he was assassinated.
“He lived for his policing work. He even moved out of our family home to stay at the police barracks because he wanted to be closer to the police resources. He would wake up at midnight to respond to a call. To him his work was his life,” said his father.
Known as Ndo in the Kranskop community, Mhlongo, 34, joined the police force five years ago.
“Thandoluhle was no ordinary cop. He was a special and dedicated man of the law. Police officers like him are unfortunately hated by the criminals. When I received a call on Friday night that he had been shot and killed, I was not only hurt by my loss, but I became worried that this country had lost yet another dedicated police officer.”
He felt this was something Police Minister Bheki Cele and the National Police Commissioner, General Khehla Sitole, should be worried about too because “the corrupt police officers are the safest as they are protected by the criminals”.
Mhlongo apparently went out to investigate a suspicious vehicle that was driving up and down the street and, when he walked out, the occupants of a vehicle began firing at him.
National police spokesperson Colonel Breda Muridili said Mhlongo managed to pull out his service pistol during the shoot-out.
Another off-duty police officer nearby responded to the gunshots. Muridili said two of the suspects were wounded in the crossfire.
“Their accomplice managed to drag them into the car and they fled the scene, leaving one of their firearms. The firearm will be taken to the laboratory for ballistic testing to determine if it has been used in other crimes,” said Muridili.
Later, two bodies believed to be those of the suspects and the getaway car were found at Seven Oaks in uMvoti.
The shooting left two bystanders, a man and a woman, wounded. They were taken to the local hospital, where they are in a stable condition. Another man was declared dead at the scene.
Mhlongo’s father appealed for more to be done to protect police officers from criminals.
His son had three young children.
Earlier on Friday, Radebe’s bullet-riddled bakkie was found on the side of the road. His body was found in the middle of the road with multiple gunshot wounds. Contact details for Radebe’s family were not available at the time of publication.
Sitole has condemned the “senseless” killings of the two off-duty police officers.