The families of the two police officers gunned down in Imizamo Yethu are battling to come to terms with their relatives’ deaths.
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The families of the two police officers gunned down in Imizamo Yethu at the weekend are battling to come to terms with the deaths of their relatives.
One of the officers, Constable Phindiwe Nikani, 26, was planning to get married in December, while her colleague, Mandisi Nduku, 27, has been described as a devout Christian.
The two were in their police van, patrolling Madiba Square in the Imizamo Yethu informal settlement in Hout Bay, when they were shot and killed by an unknown man on Friday night.
The incident brings to three the number of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty last week.
Metro police senior superintendent Mphumelelo Xakekile was shot and killed by two unknown gunmen while ticketing a taxi driver in Khayelitsha two days before the incident in Imizamo Yethu.
“We are still investigating the Hout Bay incident, but I know that two suspects have bee arrested in the metro police case and I have no other information as to who they are,” police spokeperson Captain FC van Wyk said on Sunday night.
Nikani’s family said she was the breadwinner and provided for the family and her siblings in the Eastern Cape.
“We were shocked when we received the phone call. The people here in the community loved her and we will miss how happy she made us,” said her cousin, Nomfundiso Ringane.
“She came to visit me last week when I wasn’t feeling well and I was so happy to see her and now we have lost her this has made us as a family very sad,” her uncle Fanele Nikani told the Cape Argus on Sunday.
Nikani, who was the third of eight children, lived with her fiancé in Eerste River and was planning to get married in December. She has a one-year-old child.
Her colleague, Nduku,who later died in hospital, was dedicated to his job and described as a devout Christian.
“Nobody could take him away from his job, he loved his job way too much and he was always willing to help people here at home an in the neighbourhood. He always knew how to make us laugh” said Nduku’s cousin Nomvula Msimang.
Western Cape Premier Helen Zille has offered a R70 000 reward for anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the Imizamo Yethu gunman.
She urged anyone with information to contact crime stop on 08600 10111.
Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant-General Arno Lamoer has condemned the attack on the officers.
“An attack on any law enforcement official is an attack on the state. Police officials are there to ensure safety within communities. They should not be killed. Police investigators are working around the clock to get to the perpetrators,” Lamoer said.
Meanwhile, another Western Cape police constable, Andrew Donovan, 35, died of natural causes after a fitness competition in Gauteng at the weekend. Lamoer extended his condolences to the families of the deceased police officers.
yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za
Cape Argus