Katlego Sekhu
The Sowetan reports that the NPA has withdrawn criminal charges against six men linked to the Soweto tavern shooting massacre, which left 16 people dead. The newspaper cites the murder of the investigating officer as the cause of the collapse of the case. The National Spokesperson of the SAPS, Brigadier Athlande Mathe, joined 959 Breakfast to speak on the safety of law enforcers.
Because of the nature of their work, law enforcers are easily targeted. Mathe notes that as management of the South African Police Services, they “have the police safety strategy in place, which looks at the safety of police officers on and off duty.”
Every year, millions are set aside for this initiative. This year, R25 million has been set aside for the safety and security of members.
Mathe further notes that as much as they can have this strategy in place, without the cooperation of the community, they cannot win this war because “communities know the criminals in their neighbourhoods, and they are sitting with the information.”
Certain risk assessments are done for police officers, and based on that, they provide the necessary protection.
“Criminals have declared war on the police. Police officers are being attacked and killed in the line of duty. Just in the last financial year, we had more than 27 police officers killed in the line of duty. They die protecting South Africans,” said Mathe in part.
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