Daily News reports that Sergeant Thamsanqa Mbedu was the fifth police officer to be killed in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in the past three weeks after he was shot on Saturday night.

According to Police Minister Bheki Cele, by Friday seven police officers had been killed in 15 days in SA. Mbedu was on duty performing investigation duties in the Iniwe area in Empangeni in an unmarked state vehicle and was alone. National police spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili reported further: “The member was accosted by an unknown person who came from behind the police van, who then fatally shot at the member after an altercation.” Mbedu sustained 27 gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene. His firearm was not found in his possession. Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) provincial secretary Nthabeleng Molefe said they were deeply saddened by the widespread police killings. “There should be a unit dedicated to investigating incidents where police are killed, because if a police officer is suspected of having done something in the community then there is the Independent Police Investigative Directorate. We have also asked the police to shoot and kill, and we will represent them as a union because we see that now the police attacks are on the rise as if it is a matter of leaving the community alone so that criminals are left to fend for themselves,” Molefe commented. He urged the public to work with the police to arrest criminals.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thobeka Ngema at Daily News

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