Government was spending billions on acquiring armaments for the defence force, but doing little to support and protect members of the South African Police Service, the United Democratic Movement said on Tuesday.
The party was reacting to news of the murder of student constable Lubabablo Cedric Mjarha at the Lwandle satellite police station, near the False Bay coastal town of Strand, shortly before midnight on Monday.
Mjarha (24) was on duty in the community service centre and went outside to attend to two men posing as complainants at the security gate. The men were let in and accompanied Mjarha to the charge office, where one pulled out a firearm and shot the young constable, who died at the scene. Two other policemen in the building, a constable and another student constable, returned fire, but the men fled on foot.
In a statement, UDM safety and security spokesperson Jakes Maseka said a recent report showing police killings had increased by eight percent over the past year demonstrated how criminals were holding the country to ransom.
”No matter how hard the ANC government tries to put a positive spin on the crime crisis in the country, the harsh truth cannot be denied.”
The reality was that police officers were increasingly falling victim to criminals while carrying out their duties.
”The mere fact that most police officers were attacked while arresting or in pursuit of criminals is an indictment of a government that continues to spend billions in taxpayers money on national defence force weaponry, while the real war is faced by the South African public and SAPS members.”
He urged government to spend more money on crime prevention. The Democratic Alliance on Tuesday said government had refused to accept a donation of R1-million towards a reward for information leading to the arrest of police killers.
DA MP Douglas Gibson said an anonymous but concerned member of the public had first made the offer through the then Democratic Party in 1999.
”But both ministers Sydney Mufamadi and Steve Tshwete turned it down. We approached current (Safety and Security) Minister Charles Nqakula last October, but he too turned us down,” Gibson said.
Since 1994, about 2 000 police officers have been murdered.
He said government had to take steps to protect its police officers so that they, in turn, could effectively protect citizens.
Earlier on Tuesday, Western Cape police commissioner Mzwandile Petros said any attack on police officers was a direct attack on the state.
”We will do all within our power to bring the perpetrators to book. I am both shocked and saddened by these recent attacks on my members,” he said.
Expressing his condolences to the families and colleagues of the slain officers, he echoed national police commissioner Jackie Selebi’s call on communities to support and protect those who had the task of upholding law and order.
Petros appealed to the public to contact the Crime Stop telephone number on 08600-10111 if they had information on the recent killing, and promised that all information would be treated confidentially.
The latest incident brings to 10 the number of police officers murdered in the Western Cape this year.
Over the past weekend, an off-duty policemen was murdered in Manenberg, on the Cape Flats, while another was wounded during a crime prevention operation in near-by Grassy Park. – Sapa