Brazen killing a timely warning

IT’S a sad indictment on our society that police officers can be killed en masse in the haven of their own police station. Yet, this is precisely what happened on Wednesday morning. A group of armed men entered the Ngcobo Police Station between Mthatha and Queenstown in the Eastern Cape. They opened fire on the officers on duty. Three died instantly. An off-duty soldier was also shot dead.

Two officers were taken hostage in a police van the group stole. They appear to have been executed a few kilometres down the road. Another police officer died in hospital from injuries sustained in the original shooting.

The police have been quick to respond; the stolen van has been recovered and the net is closing on the suspects. However, the response by the public appears muted.

One reason for this could be that the massacre occurred in a relatively remote area.

Another, more sinister, reason could be that we have become inured to violence. There are regular campaigns focusing on gender-based and domestic violence but little specific focus on other violence – in particular the plight of police officers who have to navigate a dangerous world every day where their uniforms are more of a target than a protection.

The details surrounding this horrific attack are sketchy but it appears the criminals were intent on stealing weapons. The immediate, and perhaps natural, response, will be to double security at police stations, making it doubly difficult for people in distress to access police services quickly and easily.

We should be creating a society where police are seen as our guardians, respected, revered and feared by criminals. Instead they have become targets. It is high time for law and order to be restored in our country and this requires all South Africans to help turn the tide on crime and violence.