By Johnathan Paoli
The country’s courts have recently handed down severe sentences to individuals involved in the murders of police officers and other violent crimes, underscoring the government’s commitment to combating crime and ensuring justice for victims.
Hawks head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya and his management team held a briefing in Pretoria on Sunday to outline progress made and milestones achieved during the second quarter of the 2024/25 financial year.
He said the murders of police officials were an assault on society and that was why the Hawks had categorised them as a national priority offence.
“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.
“The stronger the wall, the safer the community. The weaker the wall, the happier the criminals. Criminals will continuously attack this wall…,” Lebeya said.
During the period, 17 police officials were murdered, 17 arrests were made and there were seven convictions, with four life imprisonment sentences secured.
Lebeya highlighted four cases.
The Western Cape High Court sentenced Aviwe Ndwanyana, 27, to life imprisonment plus an additional 20 years for the murder of Constable Siyoko, who was shot while on duty in Nyanga’s New Rest Squatter Camp in June 2020.
In Gauteng, the murder of Constable Prudence Masuku resulted in life sentences for her husband, James Veli Masuku, 36, and Xolani Lawrence Dlamini, 31.
Masuku was seven-months pregnant when she was killed in June 2022.
In another case in Gauteng, Bongiwe Praise Magwaza, 23, was sentenced to 39 years in jail for murdering of her boyfriend, Sergeant Kgopotso Ntsana, during a domestic dispute in 2022.
In the Eastern Cape, Andile Nyoka, 30, was sentenced to life imprisonment and an additional 57 years for murdering Sergeant Mario Nell outside a court in Motherwell in 2023.
Evidence revealed that she stabbed him multiple times and attempted to stage the scene for it to appear as a suicide.
Lebeya said that in response to a surge in cash-in-transit crimes, 115 suspects had been apprehended, resulting in 43 convictions.
Six individuals received life sentences.
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