DURBAN - A POLICE officer was shot dead in uMlazi on Tuesday night.
Sergeant Siyabonga Hadebe who was attached to Umlazi K9 was playing a game of pool with friends next to his home at C section in uMlazi when he was shot.
A source in the area told Daily News that two men entered the building and one grabbed the officer's hand while one shot him at close range.
Although it is unclear how many times the officer was shot, a source said he heard at least three shots.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele confirmed the incident.
She said the information they received was that the deceased was next to his home playing pool table with friends when he was attacked.
Police will release more details later.
Last month KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Community Safety, Liaison and Transport, Peggy Nkonyeni, in a statement said that between April 2020 and March 2021, 11 on-duty and 10 off-duty police officers were killed in the province.
In February, Constable Mfihloyakhe Ndlovu, 45, was shot while he and a colleague were responding to a domestic violence dispute in Welbedacht. The suspect was killed in a shoot-out with police.
In March a police officer from Umkomaas was shot dead on his way to work.
According to reports, the 55-year-old captain was approaching a speed hump on the M14 in the Roseneath area, when the suspects opened fire.
That same month Sergeant Jeremy Martin Paul, from the Mountain Rise SAPS, was killed while tracing a suspect in an attempted murder case in the Swapo area.
On May 25 acting Ndwedwe police station commander Lieutenant Jabulani Ndawonde was shot dead at the Bhamshela taxi rank near KwaMaphumulo.
Daily News