Suspect bust for murder of Cape Town cop

The Hawks have swooped on a man suspected of killing a Cape Town police officer.

Spokesperson for the directorate W/O Zinzi Hani said a 24-year-old man was arrested on Thursday for the murder of Sgt Simphiwe Kwepile.

Kwepile, who was stationed at Nyanga police station, was killed in Mandela Park, Khayelitsha, in June.

The suspect is set to appear in the Khayelitsha magistrate's court on Monday.

In June, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) expressed dissatisfaction with the pace at which “recurring incidents of police killings continue unabated”.

At the time, Popcru said Kwepile and another police officer, Sgt S Mketi, were shot in Khayelitsha on the same night.

“Constables Foyle, Mayiya, Maliwa and Mbiza were also attacked outside the Junction Mall in Nyanga while on their way to perform their duties and required medical attention,” Popcru said.

“To date, the number of police officers killed since the beginning of the year amounts to 13, with multiple others having suffered from career-threatening injuries and are left disabled. This trend continues unabated, with the SAPS management having failed to come up with a plan to curb such incidents.”

It said police felt unsafe.

“It is a clear sign that these officers are being singled out as targets for attacks for their firearms which are later utilised to perpetuate further criminal activities.

“Many members of the SAPS are justifiably angered by this trend wherein their colleagues continue to be killed and are specific targets of attack. They consider themselves to be forgotten and neglected victims, that the authorities — and in particular their own organisation — does not care about their safety and security and fail to do anything concrete about the situation.

“In their view, the overall perception is that the SAPS appear to be reluctant to do anything.”

Popcru said there was “an urgent need to examine the reasons why the attacks on and killing of police members have continued at such high levels and also to investigate what could be done to protect the members of the police service, not only in their work environment but also off duty and in their homes, from attack and murder.

“No longer can members accept injury or death as merely a consequence or an acceptable risk in the normal execution of their daily work. Police officers, too, have rights to life.

“Our men and women in blue are daily tasked to ensure all our citizens are safe in their homes, workplaces, places of worship and entertainment. It should be prioritised that in turn, they and their immediate families are also well looked after.

“There is an urgent need to review and increase on service allowances for SAPS Act members, and an introduction of the danger allowance for the Public Service Act employees and SAPS Act members.”

Popcru welcomed the increase in the danger allowance from R400 to R700, but said it had “submitted a position paper at the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council” demanding the allowance be increased to R1,500. This would take into consideration, a number of issues, “including the cost-of-living adjustments and the frequency of the dangers these officers find themselves”.

“Matters of living conditions, family situations, career stagnation and lack of promotion of police officers should be comprehensively addressed as an officer with a healthy morale will perform his/her duties well,” the union said.

“While the onus lies on the police to prevent, combat and investigate crime, communities have a role to play in flushing out crime, as the criminals committing these heinous acts come from the communities we serve, so the improvement of community and police relations is long overdue if we are to build better communities.”

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