Family in the dark on motive for killing

Reason for officer’s shooting while writing ticket a mystery

RELATIVES of metro police officer Mpumelelo Xakekile, killed while on duty, may never get closure on the reasons why a teenager gunned him down in the street while he was writing a parking ticket.

No motive for the killing emerged during the trial in the two years following Xakekile’s death while his killer Sandisile Ncaphayi opted not to testify.

Xakekile was a member of the metro police Tactical Response Unit and was 50-years old when he died.

On Friday, Xakekile’s relatives wept in the gallery benches of the Khayelitsha Regional Court while Ncaphayi was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Ncaphayi, 20, (although 18 at the time of the shooting) sat in the dock with his head low through most of the proceedings while Magistrate Francis Makhamandela sentenced him to 20 years in prison for murder, eight years for possession of a firearm and two years for possession of ammunition.

“These sentences will not run concurrently,” she said.

On October 10, 2012, Xakekile had been issuing a traffic fine to a taxi driver at the Lansdowne and Mew Way intersection in Khayelitsha when Ncaphayi and an unidentified adult man walked past.

They turned around and started shooting at the officer who tried to defend himself. Ncaphayi has been in custody for more than two years while police have not found his accomplice.

The State called for the prescribed minimum sentence for the charge, life in prison, but Makhamandela said it would not be a just sentence. She said she was aware that Ncaphayi did not commit the offence alone.

“The accused had nothing to do with the deceased because the deceased was busy writing out a ticket… he was a target because he was alone. It’s sad for our country when the community we live in will witness an officer being killed.”

She said that throughout the trial Ncaphayi showed no remorse.

When Makhamandela spoke of the defenceless officer killed by a volley of bullets “when no one could defend him”, relatives burst into tears and she paused while one relative who wailed loudly was escorted from the gallery.

Because of his age, the court ordered that a probation officer’s report be compiled.

Probation officer Howard Mlonyeni said Ncaphayi’s family described him as a “fine child who never gave problems in school or the community – he was not involved in any fights”, and it was the first time he was involved in a criminal offence.

The officer left behind an autistic child and his wife now has to cover household expenses.

His family were too distraught to talk to the Cape Argus and hugged and cried as they walked out the court building.

The National Prosecuting Authority said it welcomed the sentence.

“It is not a life sentence, but it is still a strong sentence that sends out a clear message that the killing of law enforcement officers is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. Law enforcement officers are the guardians of our communities and should not be killed.”

‘LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ARE THE GUARDIANS OF OUR COMMUNITIES AND SHOULD NOT BE KILLED’