The Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) who was shot during a hijacking on Tuesday morning has died.
JMPD spokesperson Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the officer was shot at five times while intervening when a taxi driver was being hijacked on corner Old True Road and Pat Mbatha Busway.
One bullet hit him in the head.
“He passed away at 3am, today,” said Minnaar.
“We are very angry about what is happening. The officer intervened when he saw that the driver of a taxi needed help. He went to give assistance to the taxi driver who was being hijacked. He was shot at about 5 times. He was in ICU at Milpark Hospital,” Minnaar said.
On Tuesday, JMPD Chief David Tembe tweeted: “The suspects shot at the officer about five times and one bullet hit the side of his head‚ no arrests have been made as yet. I strongly condemn the shooting and every effort will made to apprehend the suspects.”
The City of Joburg is offering a R100 000 reward to anyone with substantive information regarding the shooting.
Mayor Herman Mashaba said he visited the officer in hospital, accompanied by MMC for Public Safety Michael Sun, Tembe and Speaker of Council Vasco Da Gama, along with the officer’s wife and his brother.
“Ensuring the safety of our officials, and especially our JMPD officers, is my number one priority. In the pursuit of keeping the residents of Johannesburg safe, I must first and foremost ensure my law enforcement officials are safe when conducting their work.
“This is why we are offering this reward, and by doing so, I hope someone will come forward with information which will lead to the arrest of the suspect(s),” Mashaba said.
He said he had commended the officer for “his bravery and thanked him for going beyond the call of duty to try and uphold the rule of law”.
"I am saddened and angered that this attack follows just a week after an EMS ambulance was assaulted with a brick while tending to a maternity emergency
“It is also two weeks after two of our officers tragically died when a drunk driver drove into them while they were on duty at a roadblock. This criminal behaviour must be condemned in the strongest possible terms and this culture of lawlessness must end,” Mashaba said.
The two officer’s colleagues were killed when an allegedly drunk driver rammed into a roadblock in Paulshof, killing them.
Mother of three Winnie Mokgolo, 35, and her 45-year-old colleague Sophie Ngoasheng were killed after Albert Pretorius allegedly lost control of his vehicle - a double cab bakkie - and rammed into the roadblock along Witkoppen road.
Ngoasheng had two children.
Two other officers - were injured following the crash.
Mashaba urged anyone with information pertaining to the shooting incident to contact Tembe on 074 534 9883.