A policeman was killed.
- Two of the four men accused of murdering a Strand police officer appeared in court on Wednesday.
- One person was remanded in absentia because he was still in hospital, under police surveillance, after being shot.
- The other will appear in court on Friday.
Two of the four men accused of murdering a Strand policeman on Christmas morning appeared at Strand Magistrate Court on Wednesday.
The men involved are Nelson Motumi, 27, Bongisizwe Dyongo, 26, and Athenkosi Matutu, 21.
The fourth man arrested was due to appear in court in the coastal city on December 30.
Motumi was remanded in absentia because he was still in hospital and under police surveillance. Dyongo and Matutu appeared in court.
Hawks spokesman Zinzi Hani said the police officer was shot in Lwandle, shortly after his shift ended at 06:00.
He was robbed and stabbed by four men.
The bailiff managed to fire a defensive shot, but the attackers fled with their gun, leaving him to die.
The man shot by the late officer was the first to be tracked down, and three other arrests followed.
READ | Police unions call for urgent action after Christmas killings of police officers
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) spokesman Richard Mamabolo said police killings were a longstanding issue, which the union was discussing with the police ministry.
He added that “officers were being killed in large numbers” and that “there was no plan… to deal with police killings.”
According to the latest quarterly crime statistics, between July and September there were 22 police officers killed across the country. During the same three-month period last year, 24 officers were killed.
Most of the officers killed this year, 18, were off-duty at the time.
Four police officers were killed while on duty.
The names of the officers have not been released out of respect for their families, police said.
