POPCRU
Press Conference on Police Killings
07 August 2015
POPCRU House
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) is distraught over the recent spate of unjust Police killings, and sends its earnest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the deceased police officers who had dedicated their lives to the Police services with a vision of protecting and defending our society.
Speaking here today, we mourn the senseless killings of 54 police officers who met their untimely deaths at the hands of criminals who continue with their ill-conceived acts, hell-bent on rendering our societies ungovernable, regardless of the lives taken, and the family lives destroyed.
We mourn the death of;
Constable Lukhanyo Mtshokotsha from the Somerset West SAPS, who was killed on the 23rd February,
Warrant Officer Petrus Holz of the Commercial Crimes Unit in Belville, who was killed on the 29th July 2015,
Constable Ledwaba, killed at Park Station on the 24th March,
Constable Myeza and Mafokoane who were gunned down on the 29 March, at the M3 highway in Johannesburg, where constable Mafanelo was hospitalised,
Constable Buthelezi, who was shot dead while on patrol at the Chris Hani Crossing Mall,
Another Constable who was shot while on duty effecting Operation Fiela at Jeppee in Johannesburg,
Constable Muhlari, who was killed yesterday in Organge Farm while at the Stradford Railway Station,
One officer shot in the head this morning in the Western Cape, and is in a critical condition,
We are deeply saddened by the killings of these Police officers and many others not mentioned here.
Despite the amnesties and other measures utilised by the South African Police Services (SAPS) to minimise guns from our communities, it is becoming clear that there are still too many illegal firearms out there, and this has been demonstrated by the continuous killings of innocent victims who have at times found themselves in the crossfire between those who are for justice and those who are for lawlessness.
The killings of Police is a worry in that if those mandated with protecting and defending our communities in upholding the law are at the receiving end, it then means our communities are at a very high risk.
As POPCRU, we will not sit back and watch these criminals take over our streets!
We will not sit back and watch our members being killed on a daily basis!
We will not sit back and watch our communities being overtaken by criminal elements!
We will not sit back and watch while criminals undermine the very democratic institutions meant for the enjoyment of all South African citizens. They are inalienable and should be defended as such.
Many of our members leave behind widows and orphaned children. Most continue to worry as to whether when their husbands and wives will return home after work.
These killers need to be dealt with harshly in order to send a message that killing a cop is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
For us, the easy access to guns, are a great contributor to the levels of crime and killing of Police.
We need to work together in breaking the cycle of homelessness, poverty, gangsters and substance abuse rife in our communities. These normally lead to the life of crime. We need to go back to basics.
In the long term, it is not about having more law enforcement and police that we need, but about starting now to create conditions which will create and sustain employment opportunities, free and quality education, equitable distribution of the country’s vast economic benefits, economic growth and infrastructural development, early child intervention programmes that would seek to shape up the manner in which society confronts its challenges.
We are convinced that there needs to be an urgent discussion about the socio-economic challenges the majority of South Africans find themselves. Crime is but a part of the socio-economic challenges our country finds itself and we can no longer ignore this reality as a country. In dealing with the root causes of these challenges, we would be working closer towards the truth.
Many of us walk unconsciousness to the decay that lies in our societies, because at the end of the day, we wobble back behind our high walls and electric fences. We re-arrange our lives with aim to stay out of the way of criminals. This state of affairs must end. We need to reclaim our societies from criminals.
As part of ending these criminals’ bliss, we appeal to all communities to work together with the police and government in confronting those who aim to destroy our society.
We call on government to implement stricter gun laws and harsher sentences.
We call on communities to expose those who commit crime and harbour illegal firearms.
We need to have an urgent national campaign which should address issues around police killings; this should ensure all sectors of society are involved. Its main focus must be on creating good working relations between police and communities.
We encourage all police officers to be vigilant and have their bullet proofs on at all times and to further treat each crime call-up as serious. Police need to be vigilant and act decisively at anyone pulling a gun on any officer.
The constant improvement of training methods needs to be prioritised in this regard.
We emphasise the need to support community policing forums, know your neighbourhood campaigns and the revival of street communities.
The need for an improvement on training methods cannot be overly emphasised. The fact that a majority of Police killed are constables is indicative of the reality that most are new entrants in the Police service.
At our recent 8th National Congress, we deliberated on the need to strengthen consecutive forums aimed at engaging different provincial, regional, and community role-players around differences or perceptions communities might have about police, and in this regard build strong relations that would stabilise our communities. Our structures are carrying that mandate out, but we need all sectors to form part as stakeholders.
The achievement and efficiency of all these initiatives depends on us all.
A POPCRU member is our Priority.
Statement issued by POPCRU, August 7 2015
