News24 reports that the head of the Western Cape's Anti-Gang Unit - which came under fire during a tracing operation, resulting in six officers being shot - has written to request that three top-ranking members placed in his force by the provincial police commissioner be immediately removed.  

Major General Andre Lincoln is understood to have written the letter a day after his officers were wounded in an early morning shootout in Samora Machel, about 20km outside Cape Town.  In a scathing letter, the top cop wrote to Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Khombinkosi Jula requesting the removal of a brigadier and two colonels who had been placed in his unit by Jula himself.  Lincoln charged that one of the named colonels had planned and instructed the officers to take part in the operation, without an approved operation plan or specialised forces.  The Anti-Gang Unit came under attack after apprehending a person they believed was linked to recent murders in Samora Machel.  Lincoln said his request for the three officers to be removed from his unit was "necessitated by a break in the trust relationship", owing to decisions taken and implemented in the operation.

• Read the full original of Tammy Petersen’s report on this story at News24

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