THE Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has called for a “regular dialogue” between law enforcement agencies and communities in dealing with the killing of the police on and off duty.
In the current and last financial year, more than 116 police officers have died on and off duty, with many, including the union, raising concerns over the safety of the lives of their members.
With the recent 2024 May elections ushered in a coalition government known as the Government of National Unity (GNU) as there were no outright winners, parties in the coalition government deployed Senzo Mchunu took over the police ministry - with the union asking the minister to help end the killing of police officers and prioritise their safety.
Asked what needed to be done to ensure the safety of the police, union spokesperson Richard Mamabolo told the paper that among other things, the police were encouraged to work with communities and adhere to the law.
“We are against any form of brutality. In fact, for us it would be ideal if regular dialogue platforms are held to ensure and build good working relations between communities and police,” he said.
Police national spokesperson Athlenda Mathe explains that the police were expected to uphold the rules when dealing with crowds to avoid undesirable incidents where the lives of both officers and civilians - were not put at serious risk during conflicts.
“Public order police are deployed to police large gatherings and crowds and are highly trained in this regard, they are trained in crowd psychology and know with less lethal strategies to deploy to disperse crowds.
“Water canons and tear gas are often used to disperse large crowds. The challenge is when communities turn violent,” said Mathe.
She added that specialised units are also called in to assist the Public Order Policing units when there is burning and damage to infrastructure, adding that police always act with caution.
While the police are often in conflict with criminals and expected to eliminate all crime activities, sometimes enforcing the law comes at a price.
Last year, Constable Sphesihle Cele, a 26-year-old POP member, was on 16 November 2023, shot and killed while he and his team members responded to a complaint of a man carrying a firearm inside a tavern in Empangeni.
While responding to the scene, the young officer was shot at by the armed man and died on the scene. The shooter was then shot and killed by the police.
Delivering the eulogy at the funeral service, then Police Minister Bheki Cele expressed his disgust at the killing of officers on and off duty.
“We are appalled that about 10 police officers have been killed every single month since April, all at the hands of criminals. These criminals are daring to take on the police and take on the policeman's state and will remove any obstacle in the way of their criminal greed, this is why I will forever call on police to fight fire with fire especially when their lives are threatened. No officer must ever die with a weapon in their hands.”
In the same month in Gauteng, Deputy Minister Cassel Mathale and the National Commissioner of SAPS, General Fannie Masemola led proceedings of the funeral service of the late Constable Marven Maphoro.
Maphoro was shot and killed while responding to an ATM bombing at a filling station in Tembisa, Gauteng.
At the time, Mathale urged police officers to use force proportional to the threat when under attack.
Sadly, not only are the lives of police officers taken by criminals, but in some instances, the fights among officers end in gunshots being fired.
In June this year, a 40-year-old off-duty constable was arrested on Tuesday night for allegedly shooting his colleague, an on-duty sergeant, dead inside a Community Service Centre at the Nsuze police station, north of oThongathi in KwaZulu-Natal.
KZN provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said at the time that information indicated that a sergeant was on duty at the Community Service Centre (CSC) with his colleague, a constable, on Tuesday night.
“When the on-duty constable entered the CSC he reportedly found his sergeant colleague sitting on a chair with gunshot wounds. He was declared dead on the scene,” said Netshiunda.
The suspected murderer was arrested the following day after he reported for duty.
In Gauteng, both the Metro police and SAPS made news last year for conflicts amongst officers which sometimes led to bullets being opened at fellow police officers.
This led to Johannesburg Public Safety MMC Dr Mgcini Tshwaku publicly condemning the killing of the police by the police.
thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za