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The Samora Machel Community Policing Forum (CPF) has urged the Department of Police to provide special training and counselling resources for officers unable to cope emotionally with their occupational and personal pressures.
This comes in the aftermath of an off-duty officer shooting and killing his girlfriend and child before turning the gun on himself on Wednesday 13 April. His girlfriend’s sister was also injured in the incident.
Samora Machel CPF spokesperson Bongani Maqungwana said the community was shocked by the incident. He stated it was the first time such an incident had occurred in the area.
“It is disappointing to see such an incident involving a law-enforcement officer,” he said. “We used to hear of such incidents happening in other areas. It seems the officers have too many problems. The Department of Police needs to provide them with the necessary training to deal with life’s problems.”
Provincial police spokesperson Lt-Col Malcolm Pojie said Samora Machel officers were probing the circumstances surrounding the death of three people, including an off-duty police constable, his girlfriend (26), her one-year-and-11-month-old daughter and a 13 year old girl, sister of the dead woman, who was wounded in the leg. Informal sources say the officer’s girlfriend was apparently about to leave him.
Pojie said the incident occurred on Wednesday 10 April around 19:00 at Basil February Street in Samora Machel.
“Preliminary investigation suggests that the off-duty police constable shot his girlfriend, her daughter and wounded a 13 year old girl in the leg who resides at the same address. He then went to his car where he allegedly turned his service pistol on himself.” He said the 13-year-old was transported to hospital for medical treatment while the other three were declared dead on the scene by medical personnel. He said two counts of murder, an attempted murder and an inquest were being investigated.
