Durban - KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison Bheki Ntuli has condemned the brutal murder of a senior traffic officer and further implored law enforcement to find those responsible for the heinous crime.
It is believed that the officer, based in Midway in Estcourt, was on his way home from work on Monday, when he was ambushed and shot execution style.
The officer died at the scene. It is suspected that an AK47 rifle was used in the commissioning of the crime.
The motive behind the killing is subject to investigation by a high-level team from the police who have launched a manhunt for the suspects.
MEC Ntuli has called on community members and those who may have witnessed the crime to work with the police in ensuring a speedy apprehension of suspects.
“The murder of our traffic officer in such a brutal manner is painful and unacceptable. This act of criminality needs to be confronted by all of us because it is a direct attack to the state and the rule of law. We have tasked the police to work tirelessly in finding the perpetrators behind this heinous crime,” he said.
Ntuli said regardless of the motive behind the incident, no one has the right to take the life of another human being.
“This incident is even more painful because it happened at a time when we are intensifying law enforcement operations as part of our October Transport Month programme. Losing one traffic officer is a huge loss to us as government. I urge all our traffic officers not to be deterred by this incident but instead they must remain resolute in fighting non-adherence to traffic laws on the road and clamp down on errant motorists,” Ntuli said.
MEC Ntuli reassured the people of KwaZulu-Natal that government is working hard to fight crime and create a safer province.
He said as part of the November Safety Month programme, the provincial government plans to launch a massive provincial crime fighting campaign known as Operation Vala.
“Our aim is to intensify our crime prevention strategy and tactics through galvanizing stakeholders and the community of KwaZulu-Natal to be actively involved in the fight against crime,” Ntuli said.
“Fighting crime remains one of our strategic priorities as government. Furthermore, our focus will be to make citizens aware of their role in protecting law enforcement authorities against these heavily armed and merciless criminals. Let’s unite and close all ranks against dangerous criminals in order to create a crime free province,” added MEC Ntuli.
IOL