Durban - Police have arrested three men that killed two Durban metro police officers and robbed them of their firearms in Phoenix on Monday.
One of them was shot and wounded at the KwaMashu M-Section early on Thursday morning in an undercover operation.
Durban Metro police spokesperson Superintendent Parboo Sewpersad said Sergeant Fanifami Dladla, 61, and Constable Sonto Emmelinall Mhlanga,40, were guarding the home of councillor Moses Zulu in Bhambayi at the corner of Fernham and Stoneham Drive bordering Phoenix.
Both were based at the Verulam Metro police base but also assigned to carry out protection services for eThekwini councillors.
Zulu, who has been receiving police protection for a year after violent service delivery protests in his ward in 2018 where he also lives.
Dladla and Mhlanga were shot multiple times and their firearms taken. Both police officers were shot while they were seated in a marked police vehicle. It is alleged that the gunmen fled the scene in a car that was parked near the councillor’s house.
"The policeman was found dead inside the police van. The female officer was found dead outside the van near the driver's door. Police are not ruling out robbery as the motive," Sewpersad said.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant- Colonel Thulani Zwane confirmed that two cases of murder had been opened at the Phoenix police station.