Durban - Police must not die with guns in their hands, said acting Community Safety and Liaison MEC Kwazi Mshengu yesterday after a 45-year-old officer was killed while responding to a gender-based violence call.
Constable Mfihloyakhe Ndlovu and his partner had responded to the call in Welbedacht East. Ndlovu was shot in the chest above his bulletproof vest.
Mshengu warned that police would not hesitate to use “deadly force” if their lives were threatened.
“When faced with hardened criminals or anyone who points a gun towards a police officer, then the police must not hesitate to defend themselves and their communities decisively. It is better to count the bodies of criminals rather than to count the bodies of officers. It can’t be business as usual when police continue to die in numbers at the hands of criminals. Our country should not be run by criminals,” he said.
According to police, Ndlovu and Constable Moodley were accompanying a woman home after she reported a domestic violence complaint at Chatsworth police station.
When the constables arrived at the complainant’s yard a shot was fired from inside the house before the police could enter.
The other constable fired back, fatally wounding the suspect and Nldovu died at the scene.
Mshengu at the weekend visited Constable Ndlovu’s family where he hailed the officer who died in the line of duty.
“We are saddened that we continue to lose experienced police officers at the hands of criminals which puts severe strain on the police because they continue to be under attack, and they are not protected by the communities they serve. The killing of police officers needs to be confronted by all of us because it is a direct attack to the state and the rule of law.”
Ndlovu will be laid to rest next Sunday.
The Daily News