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- A Durban police sergeant shot herself after she was found in a car allegedly used as a getaway vehicle after the murder of an Eastern Cape prosecutor.
- She died while under police guard in hospital.
- The man who was with her, was arrested for the murder of the prosecutor and is expected to apply for bail next month.
A KwaZulu-Natal police sergeant shot herself in the head in the Eastern Cape on Sunday when officers caught her and another man in a car that was suspected to have been used as a getaway vehicle after the murder of a Lusikisiki prosecutor.
News24 has seen a confidential police report in which the sergeant was identified as 40-year-old Neziswa Dazana, who worked at the Montclair police station in Durban.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that she died on Thursday while she was under police guard in hospital.
The police report revealed that she received medical attention at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha.
According to the report, she shot herself when officers stopped a silver Hyundai along the R61 outside Mthatha, which they believed was used as a getaway car after the murder of the prosecutor, Sivenathi Ralarala, at his home in Cradock in the Eastern Cape.
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Forty-seven-year-old Mdumiseni Mduduzi Mkhize has since been arrested for Ralarala's murder and is expected to apply for bail in the Cradock Magistrate's Court on 8 October.
The NPA has indicated that it intends to oppose the bail application.
The police report implicates Mkhize as the one who pulled the trigger when Ralarala was killed.
According to the NPA, Ralarala was at home on Saturday night when Mkhize allegedly arrived and asked to speak to him.
The two stepped outside and later, Ralarala's family members heard gunshots.
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NPA spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani said:
According to the NPA, the police swiftly started their investigation and established that Mkhize and another suspect allegedly used a silver Hyundai as a getaway vehicle.
The police revealed that the getaway vehicle was caught on a CCTV camera in Komani and that officers gave a chase.
"The vehicle was stopped near Tabase and the police searched it. As the two occupants, Mkhize and a female police sergeant, stood outside the vehicle, police heard a gunshot," Ngcakani said.
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"The police sergeant had a gunshot wound [to her] head; it is alleged that she shot herself."
The police report stated that:
The police report revealed that she used the illegal weapon that was used to kill Ralarala.
She was taken to hospital and was placed under arrest. Her case was supposed to be called in the Cradock Magistrate's Court in her absence, but "we have learnt that she has since passed away", Ngcakani added.
Police recovered a 9mm pistol with a magazine loaded with nine rounds of ammunition and one cartridge, and charged Mkhize with murder and the unlawful possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele declined to comment and referred News24 to Eastern Cape police.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Colonel Priscila Naidu said the police would release a statement at a later stage.
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