Sombre atmosphere as Jozi remembers fallen JMPD heroes

10 April 2016

 

Asombre atmosphere enveloped the Metro Centre piazza in Braamfontein on Saturday when Johannesburg Executive Mayor Councillor Parks Tau and Council Speaker Cllr Connie Bapela honoured three Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

 

The Johannesburg Regiment Memorial Service and Wreath-Laying Ceremony – which every year pays tribute to slain South African National Defence Force, JMPD and Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) officers – was attended by about 150 people and brought together families united in their grief.

The solemn service, conducted by EMS’s Reverend Seelan Govender, was in honour of JMPD officers Dameen Robson, 37, Zamane Praisegod Zwane, 35, and Sandile Request Nkonyane, 39, whose names have now been added to a list of Johannesburg’s fallen heroes on the marble memorial in the piazza. Robson’s mother – who attended the service with her husband, children and her late son’s two young children – said she was taking it one day at a time since her son was gunned down outside their home in January.

“It’s been two months and 11 days,” said Iris Naude. “It’s still fresh … We all miss him dearly. I think about him every day. But I’m taking baby steps. I have a lot of support and prayers from my church,” she said.

“On Wednesday night I dreamt about him. He said: ‘Mum, please take care of my children’.”

Robson had been a metro officer since 2007. Five men accused of killing him are due back in court on April 22. They’ve not pleaded, so we don’t know what the motive was. He was such a people’s person, loving and supportive,” she said.

His sister Letinia, who was tearful throughout the short service, described him as “one in a million, caring and a very good listener”.

A distraught Londiwe Zulu, 33, sat still throughout the ceremony, looking weighed down by her tragic loss. Her husband, Nkonyane, was hit and dragged to his death by a taxi driver in City Deep on March 15. Their two-year-old daughter – one of their four children – stood next to her.

“We had been married for six years,” she said softly. “He loved his job and his family. He was very supportive. The girls, the whole family and I miss him a lot.”

Bongwa Mbele said his brother, Zwane, was killed in a motorbike accident on the N1 freeway on March 2.  A motorist travelling in the same direction allegedly changed lanes on the blind spot without checking, killing him instantly. Apart from his two siblings, Zwane is survived by two daughters.

“My brother was always happy. He lived life to the fullest. My sister and I miss him a lot,” said Mbele.

He said by immortalising his brother and other fallen heroes, the City had showed how it valued its workers.