Cops in firing line: 2 more shot

October 14 2012 at 12:47pm
By SIBONGAKONKE MAMA, BIANCA CAPAZORIO and WARDA MEYER

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Leon Knipe

The body of murdered Hout Bay police officer Phindiwe Nikani, 26, lies beside the police van in which she and her colleague were travelling when they were shot. Picture: LEON KNIPE

 

A Hout Bay woman, who was talking to slain policewoman Phindiwe Nikani when she was shot in the head, said she heard a “huge exploding sound”, then saw Nikani and her colleague, who also died in the shooting, lying “head to head”.

Nikani, 26, who died on the scene on Friday night, had blood running from her head, Xoliswa Mayipheli, who lives in Imizamo Yethu, told Weekend Argus.

The killing of Nikani and her colleague, 27-year-old Mandisi Nduku brings to three the number of law enforcement officers killed in Cape Town in a matter of days.

Nikani and Nduku were both in their police van, stopped in Madiba Square in Imizamo Yethu, when they were shot. Nduku died in hospital early on Saturday.

Their deaths, coming just days after metro police officer Mphumelelo Xakekile, 50, was shot while ticketing a taxi on the N2 near Khayelitsha on Wednesday, have sparked widespread outrage. City authorities have already offered a R50 000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Xakekile’s killers, and on Saturday premier Helen Zille added a R70 000 reward.

Mayipheli, who witnessed the Hout Bay attack, said a man wearing a red tracksuit top shot the police officers, then fled. “I was sitting at the meat stand right opposite my home when Phindi and her partner stopped next to me. Phindi and I chatted, she asked me why I’d been scarce. After that I heard a huge exploding sound in the car. I thought something had blown up in the car. I fell from the shock,” the still traumatised woman said.

When she got up she heard people shouting: “There! There he is running away.”

When Mayipheli looked at the car, the two police officers lay “head to head”.

“I called for the police officer who lives opposite me, and she called the police,” she said, adding that she recognised the gunman.

“I don’t know him personally, but I could point him out in a crowd. I always see him driving past my place. Even when the station commander showed me a photo of who they think is the shooter, I recognised him.”

Nikani’s devastated family and friends gathered outside her uncle Fanele Nikani’s home in Imizamo Yethu yesterday to pay respects.

Nikani said they wanted to see the man who killed his niece brought to justice.

“We are terribly hurt. This is my brother’s child, she is as good as my own. We hope the police will do their best and get this person so we can see him,” he said.

Nikani described his niece as a “no fuss” kind of person.

“She always came to visit me. She came here on Wednesday just to say hello. I didn’t think that would be the last time I saw her. I’ll miss her humility the most. She was always very respectful of her elders,” said Nikani.

The Nikani family will make funeral arrangements on Tuesday when the dead policewoman’s father arrives from Ngcobo in the Eastern Cape. Reacting to the deaths yesterday, Zille said at the DA provincial conference in Cape Town that “police are doing everything they can to get to the bottom of this horrific incident”.

Hawks investigators were following up leads.

“The police are appealing for information from the community that will help with their investigation,” she said.

Western Cape police commissioner Arno Lamoer said: “An attack on any law enforcement official is an attack on the state. Police… should not be killed.

“Police investigators are working around the clock to get to the perpetrators.”

Zille added that “killing a policeman is a crime of another order”.

“These brave men and women put their lives on the line every day to protect us. It is an abhorrent crime to kill one’s protectors.”

JP Smith, mayoral committee member for Safety and Security, said yesterday there had been progress in investigations. He referred queries to the police, who said no arrests had yet been made.

According to the police, 92 police officers were killed in SA between April last year and March 31 this year. In July, Warrant Officer Pieter Roux was shot in Worcester. Then, in August, off-duty police constable Yanga Tshefu was shot dead while he was asleep in his girlfriend’s Makhaza home.

At the Hout Bay police station yesterday, bouquets of flowers lined its fences and were displayed inside alongside a memorial plaque.

Station commander Colonel Nobomi Xesha said police had been working with residents and the neighbourhood watch: “We can’t say how many people we are looking for, but it looks like there was only one person who fired a gun. People who do things like this are unruly criminals who want to intimidate us.”

Xesha said though morale was low among police and residents, the police would not be deterred from doing their work.

“Our officers are still traumatised, but they are not scared. Our actions won’t be stopped. We are not tired, we just need support,” Xesha said. – Sunday Argus

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Cops in firing line: 2 more shot