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- Police unions have condemned the recent spate of cop killings.
- Over the weekend, Warrant Officer Roger Mavundla, his wife and two children were killed in KwaZulu-Natal.
- His 7-year-old daughter was the only survivor.
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has condemned the recent spate of police killings and called for swift action against the perpetrators.
Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said according to South African Police Service (SAPS) reports, 22 police officers were killed between July and September 2022.
"With the continued killings beyond the stated period, we are concerned that these numbers will continue to rise unabated if no action is taken. This randomness and apparent targeting of police officers, whether on or off duty, has inevitably increased members' feelings of unsafety and insecurity.
"It is a clear sign that these officers are being singled out as targets for attacks for their firearms, which are later utilised to perpetrate further criminal activities," Mamabolo added.
He said there was an urgent need to examine the reasons behind the attacks on police officers.
"No longer can members accept injury or death as merely a consequence or an acceptable risk in the normal execution of their daily work? No longer can we stand by and listen to long speeches during funerals and commemorations without any action being taken," he said.
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"Police officers do have [the right] to life. Our men and women in blue are tasked daily with ensuring that all our citizens are safe in their homes. It should be prioritised that, in turn, they and their immediate families are also well looked after," Mamabolo added.
In the latest police killing, gunmen shot dead a KwaZulu-Natal police officer, his wife and two children while they were seated in their car in Port Edward on Saturday.
Warrant Officer Roger Mavundla, 49, his wife and three children, aged seven to 17, were ambushed, said police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda.
Netshiunda added:
Also over the weekend, police Captain Siphumeza Lusasa, 37, was stabbed to death in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.
A 40-year-old nurse has handed himself over to the police, and the Hawks have taken over the case.
On Tuesday, Police Minister Bheki Cele, Deputy Police Minister Cassel Mathale and police management led by national commissioner General Fannie Masemola visited Port Edward, where Mavundla and his family were attacked.
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"While we are aware that policing is a dangerous job, it is very shocking and disturbing that an officer who has been described as a good man is killed along with his young family so brutally. Our thoughts and prayers are with the young girl who is fighting for her life in the hospital, and we hope she recovers from this tragedy," Cele said.
The officer and his family will be laid to rest over the weekend.
Mavundla's seven-year-old daughter is the sole survivor of the incident and is in critical condition in hospital.
While the motive is yet to be established, investigators from the Hawks are following up on leads. Cele assured the bereaved family and community that the murders would not go unpunished.
