Police are hunting two men accused of killing a Table View policeman on Sunday afternoon.
News of the officer’s death comes as new crime data shows an almost 200% increase in violent crime in the precinct.
The 54-year-old police captain was shot dead in Dunoon’s Site 5 shanty town by two men who then fled with his gun, according to provincial police spokeswoman Brigadier Novela Potelwa, who said the officer’s identity was not being released at this stage.
The Hawks are investigating, and the motive for the shooting is presently unclear, she said.
The killing has alarmed the community.
“By shooting, killing and disarming this police officer, this shows that these criminals don’t care about anyone or anything. They did this in full view of people in the community. Now there is one more gun on the streets. This will scare whoever wants to come forward now and give information,” said Dunoon resident Ayanda Nxaso.
According to a leaked police report seen by Tabletalk, the officer drove into Site 5 in his personal car to get his TV fixed. He was inside the repair shop when a man tried to grab his police-issue firearm. During the ensuing scuffle, a second man entered the shop and shot the officer who was then shot again as he lay on the ground. The two men then ran off with his gun.
The officer’s killing comes close to two years after another Table View policeman, Sergeant Nameto Molema, was shot and killed while responding to a business robbery in Killarney Gardens on November 26 2021 (“Table View honours slain police officer,” December 8, 2021).
In a statement on Monday, Table View Community Police Forum said it was saddened by the incident but would not make any further comments until SAPS advised otherwise due to the “sensitivity” of the case.
Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen said the killing of a police officer should be regarded as an “attack on the state”, and he urged anyone with information to come forward.
Seven police officers had lost their lives in the province from July to September this year, he said.
“No officer, or any person for that matter deserves to be murdered.”
Mr Allen said the Table View CPF and neighbourhood watch ran various crime awareness programmes in Dunoon.
“They also have a security forum and control room that is linked to the local SAPS where all crime incidents are reported. We need to strengthen community participation so that more people from Dunoon itself become actively involved in crime-fighting efforts. This will go a long way in ensuring that greater safety is created in the area.”
The latest quarterly crime stats, released on Friday by Police Minister Bheki Cele and tracking cases from July to September this year, place the Table View precinct in the top-30 stations in the country for violent crime, commercial crime, malicious damage to property, “other serious crimes”, shoplifting and theft.
The station is ranked 12th for violent, or “contact-related”, crimes, which rose 192%, to 152 cases from 52 for the same period last year. It also ranked 12th for commercial crimes, increasing from 215 to 228 cases.
Malicious damage to property cases rose by 190% from 52 to 151 cases and “other serious crimes” went up 9.7% from 569 to 624 cases. Shoplifting, for which the station is ranked 22nd, increased from 79 to 86 cases, and theft, for which the station is ranked 16th, increased from 275 to 310 cases.
