JOHANNESBURG - Police have arrested two people in connection with the murder of Sergeant Simphiwe Sahluko in the Eastern Cape.
Police spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said the two were arrested at East London airport after they returned a rented vehicle used as a getaway from the crime scene on Sunday.
''Sahluko was apparently involved in an altercation with the suspects before they fatally shot him on Sunday. The team worked around the clock and traced the suspects to East London Airport,'' said Naidoo.
Sahluko, 42, was stationed at Beacon Bay police station and was off duty at the time he was murdered. Both suspects, aged 33, will appear in the East London Magistrate's Court on Thursday.
National police commissioner General Khehla Sitole commended the investigating team.
''I am encouraged by the continuous successful implementation of the 72 hour activation plan and we hope to see that justice prevails and that Segearnt Sahluko’s killers are handed down maximum sentences if convicted. I have also directed that the Sohluko family receive support from the police during their time of mourning,'' he said.
The SA Police Service (SAPS) will commemorate at least 29 police officers who have been killed while on duty next month at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Twenty one of the officers were murdered in 2017.