APA-Pretoria (South Africa) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has bemoaned the deadly attacks by criminals on police officers and vowed that his government would do everything in its power to stop the killings.
Speaking when he honoured police officers and reservists who died in the line of duty between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 on Sunday, Ramaphosa said the increase in the killings of police officers demonstrated the level of desperation by criminals to remove any obstacle that was in their way.
“Attacks on police officers must come to an end,” Ramaphosa said during the South African Police Service’s National Commemoration Day in Pretoria.
Some 34 police officials and reservists were honoured during the commemoration ceremony with their names etched on the Memorial Wall at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Ramaphosa assured South Africans that “there must be justice – and there will be justice – for the families of our fallen heroes and heroines.”
In this regard, the police arrested 76 suspected police murderers in the past year, and the cases were currently before different courts in the country, the president said.
“We must continue to arrest, prosecute and convict those who wilfully undermine the authority of state,” he said, and prayed for the families of the police officers who died to find “peace and healing.”
NM/jn/APA