The Police Ministry has called on South African Police Service to put extra effort in rounding up the investigation into the killing of 11 people, in Umlazi in KwaZulu-Natal. Police Minister General Bheki Cele visited the province on Thursday 02 September 2021, following the murder of 11 people in two separate shooting incidents.

On Sunday, 29 August 2021, six people were shot and killed at the U Section of uMlazi, two days later three gunmen opened fire inside a house in the W Section of the township, killing five people, three others sustained serious injuries.

Minister Cele says while police are yet to make arrests on both cases, they are following up on a strong lead in the one incident, set to shed more light into the motive and whether or not the shootings are linked.

“Most of those killed in both these incidents; including the 14 year old boy, were sadly people at the wrong place; at the wrong time, but some were unsavoury characters who were linked to criminality taking place in surrounding areas. A profile of one of the deceased shows he was a convicted criminal who was arrested and handed down a 12 years suspended sentence for very serious crimes, including counts of armed robbery and possession of an illegal firearm. However, police must find the killers of these 11 people, regardless of who they were and what they did.” – Cele concluded.

Meanwhile in the same province, the Ministry of Police is pleased with the progress of investigations into the brutal murders of 36 people in Phoenix.

56 suspects have so far been arrested by the detective team deployed to the area, to investigate the murders that occurred during the July unrests.

The Ministry has noted the developments in the investigations into the killing of Gauteng Health department whistleblower, Babita Deokaran. Minister Cele has commended the speed at which the team has been able to crack the case and including the latest arrest of two suspects.

Source: South African Police Service