City pays homage to officer Ratshikhopha

15 February 2018

 

Being the Mayor of this city also means I am responsible for the welfare of the City’s employees. 

 

One of the most difficult duties I have, and it is a duty I pray not to face each day, is acting on news that a colleague has passed whilst serving our residents. Nothing brings me more sorrow than receiving this news and meeting the families of those who have lost their nearest and dearest.

My deepest condolences to officer Azwinndini David Ratshikhopha’s family. Officer Ratshikhopha was a husband, a father and to some of you, a friend and a colleague who stood by you in the line of duty.

His life was taken away mercilessly by criminals who turned their weapons of death on him, shooting him five times. We should all be filled with anger at the fact that I have to recount how an officer of the law lost his life in so violent and tragic a manner.

I am personally angered that I have to be here under these circumstances.

Just two weeks ago, we had to bid farewell to Officers Ngoasheng and Mokgolo, after a drunk driver ploughed his car into them during a routine roadblock. What kind of society have we become where those who would enforce our laws and keep our communities safe, are killed in such a manner? What kind of society have we become to tolerate such terrible crimes without so much as an ounce of outrage?

Across South Africa, reports of officers losing their lives whilst protecting residents are common place. The reality of our situation, both in South Africa, and the City, is that we have become numb; we have become numb and tolerant of the lawlessness we witness daily throughout our City and country.

Thugs with guns believe they run our streets. Fairness, justice and the rule of law are three things that seem to hold little meaning in the eyes of too many.

I have always been of the opinion that the City was, for the longest time, held in the grip of corrupt and lawless officials. Under that sort of environment, is it that lawlessness is the order of the day?

Is it surprising that some believe that the rule of law is dead in Johannesburg?
It is this belief that has emboldened thugs and murderers to point firearms at an officer law and fire bullets at him.
It is this belief which has convinced thugs that they can look at Officer Ratshikhopha, take his life, and proceeded to speed off without consequence.
Officer Ratshikhopha was all alone at the time of his shooting. He attempted to intervene in the hijacking of a minibus taxi. He tried to protect our society by protecting the law. But these criminals were not concerned about the law or the safety of others.

Years of watching our leaders within the City and across our society have taught our people to accept lawlessness. That is why we continue to uncover fraud and corruption reaching the region of R18 billion since the establishment of our anti-corruption unit. That is why, on a daily basis, we arrest persons within the municipality and in communities for criminal activity; no one knows this better than all of you gathered here today.

Sadly, had it not been for this wide corruption, some of these stolen resources could have been deployed to better equip you, our JMPD officers. It is tragic to think that criminals are in many instances better armed than our law enforcement agencies across the country.

One of the City's nine priorities is to ensure safer communities and ensure members of the JMPD are better equipped to deal with the challenges of policing.

We have begun this process by recruiting more officers who can patrol our streets; 1500 new JMPD officers! Once trained, these officers will swell our ranks by over 50%.

While policing is a national competency, we too have a role to play in the safeguarding of our neighbourhoods. The new 1500 JMPD recruits represent our first steps towards taking back our streets from criminals.

As many of you already know, we have recently launched operation #BuyaMthetho, an initiative to bring law and order to Johannesburg through regular and visible policing operations The operation is more than just about arresting people for by-law infringements. It is about reversing the culture of lawlessness by ensuring our enforcement is visible on the streets.

The days of living under a culture of criminality are numbered.

I know each of you within the JMPD have what it takes to take back Johannesburg from those who have dedicated themselves to a life of crime. Is the task ahead of us easy? No; FAR from it. But, we owe it to each other, our loved ones and our communities to get criminals off our street.

We owe it to Officer Ratshikhopha who bravely gave his life in an attempt ensure the safety of our people. 
We owe it to all our colleagues who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

I have to correct a statement I made earlier.

Earlier, I said Officer Ratshikhopha was alone when we confronted these thugs.

I need to correct that. Judging by his actions displayed on duty, Officer Ratshikhopha, believed in 3 principles: fairness, justice and the rule of law. I believe many of us here also believe in these three things. As long as WE all believe in these principles, so long as each of us do all we can to carry out our duties, and each of us work to protect these principles and our communities, WE are never alone.

Wherever Officer Ratshikhopha’s killers are, I want them to know, we will do all that is within our might to bring you to book! I believe in this so strongly that I have offered R100 000 for those who have information we can use to arrest these killers. We will find them.

To Officer Ratshikhopha’s family, I feel your pain just as sharply as you do. The loss of Azwinndini David Ratshikhopha is as personal to me as it to you.

He was our colleague and above all, a fellow soldier in our struggle to secure a safe environment for our families and children. It is not a secret that many of our officers carry out their duties in very dangerous circumstances, often up against monsters who care little about innocent lives.

I wish to take this opportunity to share my sincere condolences with you all but to also express my gratitude to every officer in the JMPD for the work you do. Your fearlessness and bravery gives us courage to take one more step to the future, irrespective of the challenges. I assure you, with the help of the MMC of Public Safety, Cllr Michael Sun, and our Chief of Police, David Tembe, the City will strive to make our streets and your jobs as safe as possible.

As we say goodbye to Officer Ratshikhopha, remember the moments of joy you shared and remember his dedication to the needs of our people.

Cllr Herman Mashaba
Executive Mayor: City of Johannesburg

Luyanda Mfeka
Director: Mayoral Communications
Office of the Executive Mayor
Cell: 076 171 5978 
Email: luyandam@joburg.org.za