DURBAN - POLICE Minister Bheki Cele says “a war” is being waged against the police.
Cele was speaking to media yesterday, in Ndwedwe, north of Durban, after he visited the family of slain police officer Lieutenant-Colonel Jabulani Ndawonde.
Ndawonde, the acting station commander of Ndwedwe police station, was shot dead in a drive-by shooting, on Monday night.
Cele said, judging by how the shooting took place, it was clear that Ndawonde had been targeted in an orchestrated attack.
He said many cartridges from different weapons, including rifles and a pistol, were found at the scene.
“More than 15 rounds managed to hit his body, and it’s clear that this was an ambush and he was being followed.
“There is a serious war against the police. KZN and the Western Cape are hostile, as there are about 17 officers who have been killed, with three of them killed off duty. It’s a concerning issue,” he said.
The minister was accompanied by the deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola and provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
The delegation visited the Ndwedwe Police Station, Nsuze Police Station, and the crime scene at the Bhamshela taxi rank.
According to the national crime
statistics of the last quarter of the 2020/2021 financial year, 24 officers have been killed in the first three months of this year.
Ndawonde’s younger brother Sanele said the family was finding it difficult to accept his brother’s death.
“It’s very hard to accept such an incident as the family, especially his two young children. Even if it might be hard for us – as adults, we will have
to try and be strong for them,” he said.
Sifiso described his brother as a caring person, who looked out for his family and the community.
“He was everyone’s brother, he always ensured that he assisted wherever he could. The community trusted him and they always gave him a call whenever they wanted to report a crime, because they knew he was going to respond fast,” he said.
According to Sanele, the family had agreed that his brother would be laid to rest tomorrow.
National gender coordinator at the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) Gretta Govender said the incident came as a shock to them.
She added that the union was concerned about the shortage of police manpower in the province.
“The available police officers our station is extremely low and that is something the police commissioner needs to address with urgency. The ratio of the available manpower isn’t equal to the community the police should service,” she said.
Responding to the police shortage issue, Cele said more than 7 000 new police officers could not be trained last year, and the training would not take place this year due to Covid-19.
“While we are not training, almost every month, as the police management, we sign off 100 police officers who have requested to leave the service.
“This means that we are missing a pool of 14 000 police officers.
“About 610 police officers have died due to Covid-19 and, indeed, it does affect our service delivery,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cele said the police had received more than 16 000 submissions regarding the draft Firearms Control Amendment Bill, which was recently released for public comment. One of the more controversial aspects of the bill is that it seeks to remove self-defence as a valid reason to own a firearm.
Cele said the large number of submissions showed that the public were talking about the issue and wanted their voices to be heard.
He added that there was a mixed bag of comments, with some opposing the bill, while others welcomed it.
“We will be going through all of those comments, and we will announce what they are saying.”
THE MERCURY