Cop’s controversial killing leaves ‘bitter taste’ among community and colleagues

The killing of Constable Tshepo Tladi has left a bitter taste among the community of Katlehong and the South African Police Service.

This is according to South African Police Union provincial chairperson Richard Mkhacami Mboweni who was speaking at the memorial service of Tladi at the Uniting Reformed Church in Katlehong.

"One cannot express the damage it cost in words or in an obituary‚" he said. "It is a lifetime of pain for the family."

Tladi was gunned down while responding to an armed robbery last week on Thursday.

Initial reports by Gauteng police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela said he was "ambushed" by heavily armed robbers‚ but CCTV footage obtained by The Times revealed Tladi was shot from behind‚ possibly by a colleague. IPID said it was investigating the manner after the police officers who responded to the incident with Tladi reported that he had been shot by the robbers.

• READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Shock video exposes cover-up of fatal cop-on-cop shootingPolice officers appeared to have lied about the circumstances surrounding the shooting and subsequent death of a colleague during a robbery at a Katlehong petrol station last Thursday. (Warning: graphic imagery not for sensitive viewers) 

During the memorial service Mboweni said the family‚ police officers and the community should "avoid speculation" and allow IPID to complete its investigation without interference.

"We should allow IPID to investigate without fear or favour‚" he said.

Mboweni said the leadership of the union called on the government and the leadership of the country to enforce harsher punishments for people guilty of killing police officers.

"We aren't saying police lives are better than others... An attack on the police is an attack on the state‚" he said.

He called on communities across the country to work closer with police officers and help identify criminals.

- TMG Digital/The Times