Cop too ill to appear in court

The murder case against a police officer, alleged to have killed an assistant nurse at Tembisa Hospital in February this year, has been postponed to 11 July.

The police constable, who is yet to be identified, has been under police guard in hospital since he allegedly shot dead Lebo Monene in the parking lot of Tembisa Hospital.

The man turned the gun on himself after allegedly killing the 30-year-old assistant nurse in cold blood. He has since been undergoing a rehabilitation process in the hospital.

It is understood that Monene had ended their relationship and that they share a child together.

Police watchdog the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) said the man was supposed to appear yesterday in the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court after numerous delays over three months, due to his ill health.

But he could not make it to court once again as he was still in hospital recovering.

Ipid spokesperson Lizzy Suping said the case was deferred in his absence.

“The accused is still in hospital. According to his doctor, he will be in hospital for quite a while,” Suping said.

Meanwhile, Monene’s brother, Daniel Thobakgale, in February described the relationship between his sister and the officer as “too toxic”.

“That is what I was told because the gentleman, every time they had a quarrel, he would [allegedly] say: ‘Where is my gun? I will shoot you.’ That’s the reason Lebo decided to end the relationship,” he said, speaking to the media.

Thobakgale refrained from providing more details about the pair’s relationship.

But he said the police officer’s family knew of the issues surrounding the pair because they had had meetings with them.

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