Nine held after attack on police

NINE people have been arrested for attacking members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) this past weekend. The attack has left two officers in a critical condition in hospital.

Police spokesman LieutenantColonel Mzukisi Fatyela said the two officers had been attacked with knives, stones and bottles in Dumba village near Tina Falls in Qumbu this past weekend.

Fatyela said the incident happened around midnight on Christmas Day after police were called by some residents to attend to a crime that been committed in the area.

“Instead it is alleged that on arrival the officers were attacked and held hostage inside a tavern, which prompted more police to be sent for to rescue their colleagues,” said Fatyela.

He said it was the back-up police who managed to apprehend nine people aged between 19 and 39 years.

The attack also left one police vehicle damaged.

Fatyela said the nine men would be charged with assault, obstructing the course of justice and malicious damage to property.

The men will appear before the Qumbu Magistrate’s Court today.

● In a separate case an ambulance en route to an emergency call in Mount Ayliff was pelted with stones by unknown assailants.

Provincial health spokesman, Sizwe Kupelo, said the ambulance’s rear windshield was damaged in the attack.

This is the second ambulance in the Eastern Cape to be damaged within the last two weeks.

Kupelo said the department condemned “this type of behaviour (which) hampers the department’s ability to respond swiftly to medical emergencies, placing the lives of many people in danger”.

“Because this ambulance will now be out of service for a while, communities will be deprived of this valuable service,” said Kupelo, adding the matter had been reported to the SAPS. —