Policeman dies in bullet exchange

Condolences are still pouring in for the family of Sergeant Vakele Mjoli who was shot and killed on Saturday morning last week at Shoprite in Ngcobo.

On Tuesday, this week when the police in the Eastern Cape were congregating for the crime statistics in East London, a moment of respect was given to Mjoli.

Eastern Cape Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nomthetheli Mene, said that this incident is shocking. Mene said they will not rest until the two suspects are found and brought to justice.

A report says that Sergeant Mjoli, 43, was among the four policemen who went to respond to a call after being informed of a robbery in one of the biggest supermarkets in Ngcobo.

According to Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana, when the four policemen arrived at the store, Mjoli probed a man standing at the door of the store who was wearing a security guard uniform.

Mjoli believed that the man at the door was a security guard whom he asked about the details of the robbery. When Mjoli went inside, the man posing as a security guard unleashed a hail of bullets on Mjoli’s back, who died immediately at the scene.

One of the policemen, Constable Mfundiso Ndede, 35, is recovering in hospital after he was shot when the suspects were inside having a shootout with the policemen.

Kinana goes on to say that two suspects died during the bullet exchange with the police.

The car believed to be used by the five suspects was found near the store and the guns that were used on the scene were found inside the store.

One suspect has been arrested while two have not yet been arrested.

The MEC for Transport and Community Safety in the Eastern Cape, Xolile Nqatha, who conveyed his condolences to the Mjoli family, and wished Ndebe a speedy recovery from the hospital, said that an example should be made out of the suspects who have not been arrested. He said the police should protect the public and not be brutally killed.

Fikile Xasa from Ngcobo and a Member of Parliament also attended the event to express his condolences to the families of the victims.

“We are calling on the SAPS and other law enforcement agencies to search and arrest them. We also urge the community of Ngcobo to cooperate with the police,” said Xasa.

A case of attempted murder and murder has been opened and is under investigation. No money was stolen from the store.