Parliament condemns killing of Police officers from Ngcobo Police station

Parliament’s Select Committee on Security and Justice strongly condemns the callous attack by heavily armed criminals on the Engcobo police station in the Eastern Cape, which left five police officers and an off-duty soldier dead. The attackers also stole 10 firearms and a police vehicle that were later used in the robbery of a nearby Capitec ATM.

Committee Chairperson Mr Simphiwe George Mthimunye welcomed the urgent intervention and visit by the Minister of Police, as well as the setting up by the National Police Commissioner of a special task team to investigate the killings.

The Committee nevertheless calls for speedy intervention regarding the bold attack, as it highlights the vulnerability of unsecured police stations and rural communities, as well as the proliferation in society of both legal and illegal guns, to which criminals have easy access.

The Committee said 57 police killings occurred in 2016/17. “The South African Police Service (SAPS) should urgently address this matter to ensure the protection of its Members, both on and off duty,” said Mr Mthimunye.

The Committee further called on the SAPS to urgently address ATM robberies, as Engcobo police and the police station also came under attack in March 2017 by approximately 15 armed robbers while robbing a Standard Bank ATM.

Mr Mthimunye said in terms of the 2016/17 crime statistics, 18 to 21 murders are committed daily with guns, which Gun Free South Africa has blamed on “poor enforcement of gun control laws”.

The SAPS must therefore ensure effective implementation of the Firearms Control Act of 2000, tighten firearms control measures and root out fraud and corruption among police officials in the gun licencing process to prevent the loss, theft and sale to criminals of legal confiscated and surrendered guns, he said.

Mr Mthimunye said the Eastern Cape received the fourth highest SAPS budget allocation in 2016/17 (R6 383 149 000 of the total SAPS provincial allocation of R48 722 115 000). Furthermore, in the 2018 State of the Nation Address the President mentioned that more resources will be allocated to police stations.

The Select Committee will be interacting with SAPS on budget and resourcing to provinces and police stations (including Engcobo, which reported 3 270 crimes in 2017, including 77 murders‚ 128 sexual offences and 107 cases of stock theft).

“The SAPS is urged to urgently address security at police stations, especially as police stations in the Free State and Khayelitsha also came under attack by armed gangs in 2017,” said Mr Mthimunye.

For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Rajaa Azzakani
Tel: 021 403 8437
Cell: 081 703 9542
E-mail: razzakani@parliament.gov.za