Crime takes over South Africa

[Menydh]

Police, suspects die in Jo'burg 'bloodbath'

Mail & Guardian
June 25, 2006

A shootout in Jeppestown, Johannesburg, on Sunday ended in what was described as a bloodbath with four police officers and eight suspects killed.

An emotional Gauteng provincial Commissioner Perumal Naidoo told reporters at the scene that "four policemen had lost their lives in the line of duty".

Paramedics at the scene described it as a "bloodbath".

A large gang of heavily armed robbers fled to the house in Jeppestown after robbing a Pick 'n Pay in Honeydew on the West Rand on Sunday morning.

Police followed them and a shootout ensued, resulting in the deaths of four police officers and eight robbers.

After the incident, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula said in an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation that anyone who points a gun at a police officer will be killed.

"There are some criminals in South Africa who are armed, and are prepared to kill people ... Anyone who points a firearm at police will be killed by police officers," he said.

A tense day at the house on the corner of Main and Hans streets saw reports of a hostage drama when two police officers were believed to be hiding from the gang inside the house.

When Naidoo was asked if it was a hostage situation, he replied: "I will not say that at this stage."

Fourteen of the robbers handed themselves over to police as the day unfolded. Another had been arrested earlier at the supermarket, Naidoo said.

He said two police officers, as well as "a number of the robbers", were injured.

Naidoo, who was flanked by area commissioners, paid tribute to the four police officers who died.

"The robbers that were dealt with today were causing havoc in the whole province and I am proud of the four policemen who paid with their lives to ensure that Gauteng will always be safe.

"These guys were brave guys. It just is unfortunate and sad that they have fallen down," he said.

Of the two police officers who were injured, one is male and one female.

Nqakula admitted there is a lot of violent crime in South Africa, which is "one of the things we want to bring down as quickly as possible".

He said the incident shows that police are trained to handle such situations and will do whatever is necessary to bring these violent criminals to book.

"I regret that there was such bloodletting regarding this incident," said Nqakula.

The minister arrived at the scene of the violent shootout late on Sunday evening.


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[Menydh]

Crime: enough is enough, say leaders

Cape Times
June 30, 2006

Johannesburg: The police's "darkest day" has sparked some of the strongest calls yet to action against crime in the new South Africa.

Yesterday, as nearly 2 000 mourners paid tribute to the four police officers killed in the Jeppestown siege at the weekend, top politicians and police top brass delivered the same firm message about crime: "Enough is enough."

"Do what you have to do. Shoot if you need to shoot," national deputy police commissioner Mala Singh told the police officers gathered at the Little Falls Christian Centre in Honeydew here.

"Let us take an oath to dedicate the rest of our careers to ensure that the fallen heroes did not die in vain."

Singh, whose husband and daughter were robbed by armed men outside a shop this week, said the SA Police Service (established in January 1995) was experiencing "its darkest day in its 11-year history".

The Deputy Minister of Safety and Security, Susan Shabangu, broke down in tears during her speech.

"A black cloud has formed over our country. There's a war going on. We can't have a country run by criminals. We can no longer be sympathetic to criminals," she said.

Acting Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane was the boldest speaker, saying the province "must not be a gangster's paradise".

She told police: "Guns are not a bunch of roses you get for Valentine's Day. They are your instruments to fight crime. Use them without panic and use them smartly. Go out and serve."

She called on communities to mobilise against crime and to get to know who their neighbours were.

"We must know who lives in every house. We must not drive past a house that is a semi-military base and assume it's (just) a house."

To Inspector Leonie van Heerden, wife of slain officer Frikkie, Mokonyane said: "You are a heroine. A woman of strength. You represent many of us and we love you." Leonie was wounded during the shootout.

Gauteng's MEC for Community Safety, Firoz Cachalia, echoed the message. "No mercy will be shown were no mercy is deserved. Let this tragedy be the turning point in our society's fight against crime."

Police Johannesburg Area Commissioner Oswald Reddy said officers would continue their fight. "We'll stand up and defend democracy. We are not scared. We'll fight fire with fire."

Reddy described the inside of the Jeppestown house where the gun battle took place as a war zone. "We were horrified. There were bodies everywhere."

West-Rand Flying Squad commander Superintendent Stephen Vermaak was also reduced to tears during his address. "Our hearts might be broken, but you have not destroyed us. To every criminal I say: you have witnessed the bravery of our colleagues."

The memorial service lasted over four hours.

Several police trade unions were given a chance to express their condolences, as was a Chinese police officer who spoke on behalf of his community.

Inspectors Frikkie van Heerden, 32, and Nzama Mathye, 49, both of the West Rand dog unit, Sergeant Gert Schoeman, 30, of the West Rand emergency response service, and Constable Pieter Seaward, 31, of the Johannesburg dog unit, died on Sunday in the gun battle with the robbers.

The clash happened after the gangsters had robbed a Honeydew Pick 'n Pay of R35 000.


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[Menydh]

'Shocking' number of Gauteng cops killed

Mail & Guardian

July 2,　2006


A "frightening" number of police officers have died in Gauteng so far this year, with almost as many slain in the first six months of 2006 as in the whole of last year, said the office of National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.

The deaths of four police officers in a bloody siege in Jeppestown last Sunday brought the tally to 19 since the start of the year. There were 23 police killed in the whole of 2005.

"These are shocking figures," said a spokesperson for Selebi's office, Captain Dennis Adriao.

Another police officer, Inspector Calvin Bongani Myeza (40) was shot dead while walking to his house in Dobsonville, Soweto, on Friday night.

Police will fight fire with fire, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula has vowed, adding that no mercy will be shown to criminals where none is deserved.

On May 21, the South African Police Service (SAPS) remembered 91 police officials killed last year -- 33 of them murdered while on duty and 58 off duty -- during its annual commemoration service at the SAPS memorial at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

Of the deaths, five were in Limpopo, six in Mpumalanga, two in North West, 24 in KwaZulu-Natal, two in the Free State, one in the Northern Cape, 12 in the Eastern Cape, eight in the Western Cape and 11 in divisions.

In 2004, 107 police were murdered, 40 while on duty and 67 off duty.

At the time, police put the decrease down to an increase in street survival and tactical policing courses, greater community involvement in the battle against crime and stiffer sentences imposed by the courts.

The police have refused to reveal exactly how many police deaths there have been throughout the country since the start of this year, citing the moratorium on police statistics.

However, there are believed to have been at least 13 deaths in KwaZulu-Natal -- four of on-duty police and nine off duty.

An off-duty Mariannhill reaction unit police officer was shot dead when he stopped to investigate a suspected robbery in Shepstone Road, Pinetown, at 6am on May 18. He was shot in the groin and chest.

The next day, Cato Manor police station commissioner Superintendent Reuben Govender (44) was shot dead by an unidentified gunman when he stopped at an intersection in KwaDukuza.

His wife, daughter and two other men were in the car at the time. Govender was hit in the head and stomach.

Limpopo's Inspector Theunis Prinsloo (34) died in a clash with three men in Naboomspruit on Wednesday night. He was fatally shot in his shoulder. Another police officer was wounded in the leg.

In Mpumalanga, off-duty police officer Inspector Naboni Zitha was shot dead while waiting for a friend in his parked car outside a house in Numbi, Masoyi, in Hazyview, at 10pm on June 15.

Zitha, of the Hazyview crime combating unit, was shot in his mouth. His service pistol was taken.

Northern Cape police said no members had been murdered in the line of duty this year, but the province had lost 12 police officials to natural causes and vehicle accidents.

There had been no Free State police murdered since the start of the year either, but a Limpopo police officer on detached duty in the eastern Free State had been killed in an attempted robbery in Bloemfontein.

The police officer was in a shop in February when three armed men entered and threatened employees while demanding cash.

On seeing the police officer a robber walked up to him, demanded his firearm and shot him in his head and chest when he refused to hand it over.

Just two days before the Jeppestown killings, in Gauteng, East Rand police officer Inspector Jacobus Labuschagne (33) was fatally wounded in a shootout with a gang of robbers in Nigel.

He was shot in the chin and stomach by four men trying to rob a textile factory at 11.45pm.

Police officers would not be intimidated by armed criminals, Gauteng Police Commissioner Perumal Naidoo said on Saturday at the funeral of West Rand Dog Unit's Inspector Victor Nzama Mathye (49) in Giyani, Limpopo.

Mathye was killed with dog unit colleague Inspector Frederick "Frikkie" van Heerden (32), Sergeant Gert Schoeman (30) of the West Rand emergency response service and Constable Pieter Seaward (31) of the Johannesburg dog unit in the Jeppestown stand-off.

Police were committed to serving the nation "to make our country a safer place", said Naidoo. "We will do that in their names. We will do that for their families."


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