The suspects, who killed Constable Daniel Ntonyane of the Stilfontein Police Station, have been identified and arrested.
The two suspects, 29-year-old Reuben Sipho Sithole and 28-year-old Dan Collen Sikhavelle, were arrested during an intelligence-driven operation by the Organised Crime Unit of the Hawks in Palm Ridge near Thokoza on the East Rand, Johannesburg.
The third suspect, 32-year-old Mandla Joseph Msibi, was arrested on Wednesday, 19 February 2014. All three suspects appeared in the Stilfontein Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 24 February 2014, where they have decided to abandon their bail application. They will appear again in the same court on the 16 April 2014.
Constable Ntonyane was fatally shot in the line of duty. He was confronted while performing routine patrols with a colleague near an automatic teller machine (ATM) in Stilfontein on January 6, 2014. The officer was shot once in the head and lost control of the police vehicle he was driving. He died at the scene.
The arrest of these police killers will help us determine the sequence of events leading to the death of Constable Ntonyane and might assist in solving other similar cases. Those who continue to kill our officers with the aim of paving their criminal paths will be pursued aggressively until they are behind bars with the life sentences that they deserve.
The following incidents on arrested police killers were reported in the media:
Eastern Cape man arrested for killing a police officer: A man was arrested in Elliot in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday in connection with the murder of a policewoman, said the police in the Western Cape. Investigations into the murder of Constable Rozelle Witbooi led police to Elliot where a 26-year-old man was arrested, said Captain Frederick van Wyk. “The suspect is currently being held in the Eastern Cape while he is recovering from a gunshot wound.” The man will be taken to Cape Town for his court appearance soon. He was wounded in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, during a shoot-out on Thursday in which 33-year-old Witbooi was shot dead. Citizen online 16:29; News24 17:55 19 February 2014
Suspect in court for murder of a police officer of Port Elizabeth.
A suspect will appear in the Alexandria Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday for the murder of a policeman of Port Elizabeth, Thembile Gulwa, and the attempted murder of his colleague, Warrant Officer Jacque Nell, at the weekend. The 58-year-old sergeant was shot in the head, while 42-year-old Nell was wounded in the shoulder when they came under fire after responding to a back-up call from two other officers who had stopped a bakkie on the N2 near Kinkelbos.
The two other officers were not injured in the shoot-out in the early hours of Sunday morning. Police spokesperson, Captain André Beetge, says the gunmen fled the scene, but their vehicle, a firearm and ammunition were recovered about 40 minutes later. He says that after a manhunt, involving the K9 Unit and a police helicopter, three men were taken in for questioning. Beetge says “only one of them could be linked to the incident. The 37-year-old male was arrested and will appear in the Alexandria Magistrates’ Court tomorrow on charges of murder and attempted murder.” Algoa FM News, 17:12, 18 February 2014.