The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) confirmed on Wednesday that three additional suspects had been arrested over the gruesome killing of a Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officer at Vlakfontein last week, bringing the number of suspects to five. This comes against the backdrop of heightened national concern over police officers being murdered in service.
The suspects, aged between 20 and 35 years, were arrested on 17 May 2025 in Dobsonville, Soweto. The operation was conducted by a multi-disciplinary police unit of the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation units from Vaal Rand and Pretoria, with the help of JMPD, EMPD, Provincial Crime Intelligence, and Gauteng Provincial Tracking Team.
One of the homes was where a white VW Polo, which is suspected to have been used in the ambush, was recovered. Additional leads had officers search another home where two firearms were recovered one of its serial number scratched off and another turned out to be the official firearm of the late JMPD member.
The police officer was gunned down on 15 May when he responded to an attempted robbery at Extension 1 in Vlakfontein’s Winchester Street. The initial reports indicated that the officers had seen and were walking towards the suspect vehicle. However, the suspects had opened fire, rendering the officer fatally injured and making off with the officer’s service pistol. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The first two suspects, both 27 and 25 years old, were apprehended shortly after the crime had been committed. All five suspects are already standing trial on charges of murder, possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition, and defeating the ends of justice. They will appear before the Lenasia Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 19 May 2025.
A grim trend: Police officer killings on the rise
This latest attack adds to a deeply concerning trend of on-duty fatal attacks against police officers in South Africa.
According to the 2023/2024 annual crime report by the South African Police Service (SAPS), 73 police officers were killed between April 2023 and March 2024, where most of the killings occurred while performing official duties, like responding to robberies, stopping vehicles in traffic, and making arrests. This was up from the 64 officers killed in the prior year.
Of the total, 29 officers were killed while in service, and the remaining were off-duty when they were slain. The majority of these attacks were noted in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape, where Gauteng was a chronic leader among provinces with the highest police fatalities.
Commenting on this alarming trend, Gauteng Hawks Provincial Head, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa, praised the work concerted towards the speedy arrests:
“The message is clear; attacks on peace officers will not go unpunished. The rapid response and dedication of this multidisciplinary task team are to be applauded. We will continue to pursue individuals who endanger peace officers and hold them accountable to the full extent of the law,” said Maj. Gen Kadwa.
The South African Policing Union (SAPU) and Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) have previously called on the government on several occasions to include assaults on the police as treason or as a national priority crime, arguing that attacking the police compromises the democratic state and public security.
Stolen police firearms fuel crime wave
The theft of the slain officer’s service pistol also points to another worrying trend: the diversion of state firearms into the hands of criminals. Between 2021 and 2023, over 700 police-issued firearms went missing or were stolen, the Civilian Secretariat for Police statistics reveal. The firearms often resurface in hijackings, cash-in-transit heists, and contract killings, placing police and civilians in greater danger. As a response, safety plans and multi-disciplinary task units like the one in this probe have been introduced by the SAPS and metro departments to crack down on gun-running syndicates and organised crime cells. Critics say, however, that more proactive community-based intelligence and internal accountability processes are needed to prevent such tragedies.
Call for better protection and equipment
Security experts and policing lobby groups have also urged an intensification of work to improve the working environment of members, including increased intelligence coordination, tactical training, availability of protective gear, and trauma debriefing for members.
The SAPS Budget Vote for 2024 also includes R2.4 billion for crime prevention and police visibility, some of which will go towards increasing officer safety and improvements in technology.
With the nation in mourning once again for a lost officer, pressure continues to be placed on legislative and operational reforms to silence the violence directed at those who serve and protect.
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