A police officer is fighting for his life after he was shot at point blank range at the weekend.
Mzwandile Tukani, 45, a member of the Mthatha stock theft unit, had gone to investigate a case with another officer in Mandela Park informal settlement, along the R61, when he was shot by unknown assailants, said police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela.
But there was no clear indication that the shooting, at 8pm on Saturday, was related to the stock theft case, with a community leader saying there was a problem with crime in general in the poorly-lit township.
“We don’t know yet how many people were there but we found around seven spent cartridges on the scene,” Fatyela said.
Tukani, a married father of three, is from Mpeko village outside Mthatha. His distraught wife, Ntombomthetho Tukani, told the Dispatch yesterday he had been moved from St Mary’s Hospital in Mthatha to a hospital in Durban.
“He was transferred this morning,” she said. “He was restless on Saturday and doctors could not operate until he was stabilised.”
Tukani had reportedly just alighted from a police vehicle when the shots were fired.
No arrests have yet been made.
Mandela Park community leader Simosakhe Memani reacted with shock at the news, saying they had been calling on the state to install more overhead-mast lights in the area. “We need about five of them. There are two at the moment. The area where this incident is said to have happened is dark .”
Memani said although the area was notorious for its high crime levels, it was still shocking that a police officer was shot there.
“We always hear of such things in other places. We do have a problem with drugs, housebreak-ins, assaults and people being mugged. But not this.”
He said it was mostly young people who were involved in crime due to the high unemployment rate.
Last year more than 58 police officers were killed, almost half in the line of duty. Subsequently, President Jacob Zuma, while addressing an SA Police Service national commemoration day, was quoted in some newspapers as saying police should defend themselves by fighting fire with fire. However, he warned this would have to be done within the confines of the law. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
Mthatha police officer fights for his life after being shot at point blank range
Mzwandile Tukani, 45, a member of the Mthatha stock theft unit, had gone to investigate a case with another officer in Mandela Park informal settlement, along the R61, when he was shot by unknown assailants, said police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela.
But there was no clear indication that the shooting, at 8pm on Saturday, was related to the stock theft case, with a community leader saying there was a problem with crime in general in the poorly-lit township.
“We don’t know yet how many people were there but we found around seven spent cartridges on the scene,” Fatyela said.
Tukani, a married father of three, is from Mpeko village outside Mthatha. His distraught wife, Ntombomthetho Tukani, told the Dispatch yesterday he had been moved from St Mary’s Hospital in Mthatha to a hospital in Durban.
“He was transferred this morning,” she said. “He was restless on Saturday and doctors could not operate until he was stabilised.”
Tukani had reportedly just alighted from a police vehicle when the shots were fired.
No arrests have yet been made.
Mandela Park community leader Simosakhe Memani reacted with shock at the news, saying they had been calling on the state to install more overhead-mast lights in the area. “We need about five of them. There are two at the moment. The area where this incident is said to have happened is dark .”
Memani said although the area was notorious for its high crime levels, it was still shocking that a police officer was shot there.
“We always hear of such things in other places. We do have a problem with drugs, housebreak-ins, assaults and people being mugged. But not this.”
He said it was mostly young people who were involved in crime due to the high unemployment rate.
Last year more than 58 police officers were killed, almost half in the line of duty. Subsequently, President Jacob Zuma, while addressing an SA Police Service national commemoration day, was quoted in some newspapers as saying police should defend themselves by fighting fire with fire. However, he warned this would have to be done within the confines of the law. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
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