Residents from Bottlebrush in the Chatsworth area, south of Durban, torched and stoned the police vehicles while officers were on foot in pursuit of suspects on Thursday.
Provincial Commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, condemned the incident that happened in the early hours of the morning.
According to provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda, the police officers are members of the eThekwini District Task Team and they were tracing wanted murder suspects.
He said the Public Order Policing officers were called to provide back up in the operation.
“When police officers were tracking and tracing the suspects on foot, a group of counter-productive residents torched a police vehicle to ashes and stoned another,” said Netshiunda.
Mkhwanazi said that the destruction of police resources is a direct attack on the authority of the state.
He said no stone will be left unturned in pursuit of those responsible.
“Community members always complain about the lack of police resources, which is a genuine concern, but there are those who seek to cripple the police service so that they can continue with their reign of terror.
“Burning and stoning police vehicles is a serious crime and the team is already on the ground to find those behind this heinous act,” said Mkhwanazi.
Netshiunda said the destruction of the state resources did not stop the police from tracing the wanted suspects. “The two suspects were arrested and were found in possession of two firearms and an air rifle.”
Police said the arrested suspects will appear in court soon.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube and Transport, Community Safety and Liaison MEC Sipho Hlomuka, will be handing over essential tools of trade worth over R32 million for community crime-fighting structures.
The provincial government said the handover is part of its commitment to fighting the scourge of crime in the province and that these tools of trade will better equip the functioning of various voluntary community crime-fighting structures in KZN.
“The premier will unveil and hand over a fleet of 85 vehicles, equipment essential for patrols such as torches, uniforms, and safety boots to augment the work done by these voluntary crime fighting structures.”
The event will be held in Hoy Park in Durban.
The Mercury