The Portfolio Committee wishes to express its heartfelt condolences to the families of the three police officers who were brutally killed in KwaZulu-Natal.

Committee Chairperson, Mr Francois Beukman, described these killings as tragic, more so that they were killed in the line of duty. “What happened to these officers is regrettable. The Committee wants the police management to look at strategies to develop additional operational guidelines in crime hotspots to ensure the maximum safety of members,” said Mr Beukman.

Mr Beukman said the fact that police officers operated under dangerous and life-threatening conditions was something the public should appreciate at all times. The community should therefore support the members of the SAPS in the execution of their duties in the fight against crime.

The Committee has called on community members to cooperate with police to ensure that perpetrators of these horrendous crimes faced the full might of the law. The two officers from Harding Police Station were killed when they were responding to an armed robbery incident on Thursday evening.  The other police officer was shot dead during a raid of an illegal tavern in KwaMashu, also on Thursday night.

Issued by Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Portfolio Committee on Police