Govt stance on cop killings welcomed

2011-05-27 11:46

Johannesburg - Popcru on Friday welcomed the hardline stance taken by the Cabinet on the killing of police officers.

"The killings have continued to rob the citizens of human capital... with a Constitutional responsibility to make the citizens safe and secure," Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) general secretary Nkosinathi Theledi said.

"Popcru reiterates its call for all citizens to view policing as a societal responsibility which all must participate in."

The Cabinet expressed its alarm on Thursday at a steady rise in the number of police officers killed by criminals.

It warned that any person found guilty would face the full might of the law.

32 officers slain this year

Earlier this week, the SA Human Rights Commission condemned the killing of police officers in the line of duty, saying it undermined the proper functioning of the criminal justice system.

This year alone, reports indicate an increase in the number of slain officers, with the number standing at 32 dead since January.

Other statistics show that about 109 police officers were killed between 2008 and 2009 while 110 were killed between 2009 and 2010.

On Sunday, two police officers, Warrant Officer Gurswin Matthee and Constable Cannon Cloete, were killed while attending to a crime call in Kraaifontein in the Western Cape.

Three days earlier, Captain Sydney Bongani Hlengwa and Constable Zamikhaya Patrick Hlangulela from Creighton in Durban were killed during a raid.

- SAPA