More than 20 police officers were killed between January and March, according to Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya, the head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI).
Lebeya said 16 of the 22 police officers murdered in the first three months of the year were killed while off duty. The others were killed in the line of duty.
He was discussing the developments and accomplishments for the fourth quarter of the 2024–2025 fiscal year at a media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday.
He said police killings have been categorised as a form of serious organised crime.
Attack on police is an attack on society
“There exists a blue wall in South Africa: a human wall formed by men and women in blue. The wall that divides and shields the good from the bad elements in society,” said Lebeya.
“The stronger the wall, the safer the community. The weaker the wall, the happier the criminals. Criminals will continuously attack this wall in order to access the protected good citizens of our beloved country.
“An attack on police officials is an assault on society and, indeed, an attack on the state. We categorised the killing of police officials as the national priority offence that requires the attention of the DPCI.
“During this period, 22 police officials were murdered, of whom 16 were off duty while six were on duty.”
According to Lebeya, 50% of the killings of these police officers took place in Gauteng.
Lebeya said 38 arrests were made and 14 convictions were obtained, carrying 11 life sentences and 487 years in prison.
He added that two metro police officials were also killed between January and March.
Caught on the wrong side of the law
Lebeya, meanwhile, stated that 33 police officers were detained during the period under review. These included 19 traffic officials and 14 members of the SA Police Service.
“They were arrested for cases ranging from fraud, corruption, murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and defeating the ends of justice.
“These officers were arrested in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and Free State provinces,” he said.
According to Lebeya, six of the 33 police officers who were detained between January and March were found guilty and given sentences for thwarting the course of justice, conspiring to commit robbery, fraud, and corruption.
During this period, he said, 656 suspects (607 natural and 49 juristic persons) were arrested and appeared in various courts across the country.
South Africans make up 450 (74%) of these arrests, while foreigners make up 157 (26%).
Out of the 656 suspects, 364 were apprehended by the serious organised crime investigation, 220 by the serious commercial crime investigation, and 72 by the serious corruption investigation.
Hawks make their presence felt
“The DPCI has made significant inroads in apprehending individuals involved in high-profile cases, thus ensuring accountability and justice for the victims.
“These arrests targeted people involved in serious corruption; serious organised crime; serious commercial crime, including fraud, theft, money laundering, cybercrime, police killings, cash-in-transit robberies, other armed robberies, terrorist activities, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, tax-related offences, Covid-19-related criminal activities, drug trafficking, and trafficking in persons,” said Lebeya.
During the period under review, he said, the Hawks secured convictions on 239 accused persons.
A total number of 266 (253 natural and 13 juristic) accused persons, including those convicted in the previous quarters, were sentenced during the period under review.
