Shweizer-Reneke – Police Minister General Bheki Cele has urged police officers to be the first to act when they have to use force proportional to the threat.
General Cele made the remarks while addressing hundreds of mourners and police officers at the funeral of Sergeant Kediemetse Masilo in Schweizer Reneke, North West on Sunday.
Sergeant Masilo and a colleague – Constable Okaetse Mandindi – were killed on Tuesday last week while tracing a stolen vehicle in Kimberley.
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Both members were attached to the Kimberley Flying Squad.
The double murder suspect, 38-year-old Daniel Alberts, is a repeat offender.
Alberts has already appeared before the Kimberley Magistrates Court on two counts of murder, three of robbery with aggravating circumstances, one of motor vehicle theft, and one of theft.
At the funeral speaker after speaker decried the killing of police officers, on and off duty.
Thirty-one police officers have died on and off duty in the last three months.
Minister Cele, South African Police Service (SAPS) management, and representatives of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union all urged police officers not to “hesitate to act”.
Be vigilant and operationally ready to act in any circumstances. If force is required, it must at all times be necessary, reasonable, and proportional,” said General Cele.
“I plead with you dont die with the resources and tools that we have given you.
Also in attendance at the funeral were Deputy Minister in the Presidency Kenny Morolong, Northern Cape Community Safety MEC Nomandla Bloem, SAPS National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola, and Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Koliswa Otola.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the other murdered police officer, Constable Mandindi, will be laid to rest on Saturday, (2 September 2023), in Pampierstad, Northern Cape.
The next day, Sunday, (3 September 2023), there will be a commemoration ceremony for 34 police officers at the Union Buildings.
Brigadier Mathe said SAPS will pay tribute to its fallen heroes and heroines who died in the line of duty in the 2022/2023 financial year.
