CAPE TOWN, September (ANA) - The 2017/18 crime statistics released on Tuesday in Parliament showed that more than 80 police officials were murdered in the last financial year, with KwaZulu-Natal being the province with the highest number of deaths.
Head of police crime research and statistics, major General Norman Sekhukhune said, of the 85 police officials murdered in 2017/18 financial year, 28 were fatally wounded while on duty.
“Some of the police officials were killed while performing duties within the police stations or CSC (community service centres) and of course keeping in mind that five of those officials were those who were massacred in Engcobo police station, then further two members were found murdered in koffiefontein police station and in both incidents firearms were robbed from the community service centre,” he told members of Parliament (MPs).
“And we also have to keep in mind that the fact that police officials are attacked in the line of duty serves as a vicious reminder of the encounters that the officers are faced with on the daily bases in their quest to ensure that South Africans are and feel safe.”
The highest number of officials killed at once was during the Ngcobo police station massacre in the Eastern Cape earlier this year.
- African News Agency (ANA)
