Cape Argus reports that police unions have called for a study to be conducted on police killings and recommendations be properly implemented to curb the scourge.

This after the killing of two people in Mfuleni on Tuesday, one of whom was Phindile Vutula, 33, an off-duty police officer who was stationed at Philippi East. Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said the circumstances surrounding the double murder were being investigated. Vutula’s killing came almost four weeks after officer Koliswa Vani, 50, who was stationed at the Delft police station, was shot and killed in Mfuleni, while three others were injured, including her 3-year-old grandson. Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said the finalisation of the Firearms Control Act must be fast-tracked as unlawful firearms were mainly the root cause of the menace. Mamabolo added that many officers were killed when on and off-duty due to the kinds of cases they were handling, their firearms, the lack of respect of the community for police, poor levels of trust and cooperation between the two, alleged corruption within the police, poor service delivery, inadequate resources and lack of back up. SA Police and Allied Workers Union (Sapawu) president Bonga Makuliwe said police killings had been worrying and were becoming a norm. Western Cape Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz called on the police to use all their resources to stop the spate of killings on the Cape Flats, including the latest killings in Mfuleni.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sisonke Mlamla at Cape Argus

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page