Families still devastated by killings
Metro officers mourn deaths of their colleagues
The families of two Johannesburg metro cops killed at a roadblock when an alleged drunk driver crashed into them have told of their trauma of losing their loved ones.
Yesterday an emotional wreath-laying ceremony was held at the scene where Winnie Mokgolo, 35, and Sophie Ngoasheng, 45, were killed on M onday.
The pair died when Albert Pretorius allegedly lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a roadblock mounted by the JMPD (Johannesburg Metro Police Department) officers along Witkoppen Road near Montecasino.
Police spokesman Captain Granville Meyer said Pretorius appeared in court yesterday to face charges of culpable homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Ngoasheng’s husband Andrew Damari said his family has been left distraught. “We haven’t come to grips with what happened,” Damari said.
Ngoasheng is survived by two children aged seven and 12. “It’s very difficult for the children because they have lost a mother. They’ve been receiving counseling because they haven’t taken the news of their mother’s passing well.”
Mokgolo’s aunt Gloria Mokgolo said the mother of three was everything to her children. “She was kind and played an important role in our family. Sophie was everything to her children. They are devastated and inconsolable,” she said.
She said the family was still
‘ ‘ It’s hard for the children because they lost a mother
coming to terms with the death and were yet to discuss what would happen to the children. “Sophie was a single parent and now we have to sit down and see how we can provide a support structure for her children.”
Family members and colleagues fought back the tears as two crosses were hammered into the ground where the metro officers perished.
Johannesburg’s public safety MMC Michael Sun said they were looking to introduce programmes that would make policing safer at night.