Mayor Mashaba visits families of slain JMPD officers

30 January 2018

The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Herman Mashaba, Member of the Mayoral Committee for Public Safety Cllr Michael Sun and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department Chief David Tembe visited the families of the two slain officers on Tuesday, 30 January 2018.

 

The two female JMPD officers, 35-year-old mother of three Winnie Mokgolo and 45-year-old mother of two Sophie Ngoasheng were fatally injured on Monday evening after a motorist lost control of his vehicle and rammed into a roadblock mounted by the JMPD along Witkoppen Road near Montecasino.

They and their fellow officers had stopped three vehicles for a routine check when the driver of a double cab bakkie crashed into them.

Two other female officers, two passengers from the stopped vehicles as well as the driver of the double cab were seriously injured and taken to hospital by Emergency Management Services. Officer Patricia Nukeri, who suffered a broken collarbone, right leg and punctured lung will undergo surgery on Wednesday.

Mayor Mashaba expressed sadness and anger at the violent deaths of the two officers.

“MMC Sun and I are devastated that the City has lost more JMPD officers in such a manner. It is believed that the driver who caused the accident was drunk. Over the course of the past weekend alone, JMPD arrested 308 drunk drivers in Johannesburg.

“The driver of the double cab was arrested on the scene and blood samples were taken. It was later confirmed that the driver was three times over the limit, with more intoxicating substances found in the vehicle. He is currently detained at the Sandton Police Station and we will ensure that he faces the full might of the law, including charges for murder,” said Mayor Mashaba.

Chief Tembe also expressed anguish over the loss of the dedicated members of his staff. “This is hard. We are here with the families to tell them what happened to their loved ones. I don’t know what to say anymore when we lose our own while serving the community, but we’ll continue to perform our duty and to serve our community,” he said.

The Department of Public Safety recently launched a pilot project which aims to make JMPD officers more visible to approaching traffic while on duty, by wearing a body-light device on their uniform.

The Department is also continuously driving safety awareness campaigns throughout the City.

“We will not tolerate such reckless and criminal behaviour. Drunk driving not only puts the driver of the vehicle at risk, but also places all other road users at risk as well. We send our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased JMPD officers, who were also our colleagues and friends,” said Mayor Mashaba, who added that they will also visit the injured officers in hospital.

A wreath-laying ceremony will be held at the scene of the accident on Thursday, 1 February 2018.