National police commissioner Bheki Cele yesterday used the funeral service of a slain reservist to warn that the police will win the war on crime and catch criminals even if they hid in "mountains, rivers or hills".

Police reservist Lieutenant-Colonel Marco Ishlove, who was killed in a shoot-out between police and a gang of five men almost two weeks ago in the Johannesburg suburb of Northcliff, was given a state funeral yesterday.

Ishlove, a financial and tax consultant who dedicated the past 30 years of his life to fighting crime, was hailed as a "brave soldier", a "hero" and a man who made the ultimate sacrifice to uphold the rule of law.

The service was held at the Mosaïek Teatro, in Fairland, near the suburb in which he was killed.

An impassioned Cele said: "We shall win this war. We shall not allow the country to be ruled by criminals."

Cele said police officers have not been told to "shoot first and ask [questions] later" but they had to act decisively to defend communities against criminals.

Cele said criminals do not use "broomsticks or feather dusters", adding that if someone had to die it should not be a police officer.

"If that is a policy of 'shoot to kill', let it be ... no member [of the police] must die with a gun in his hand."

Cele said that killers of policemen will have "sleepless nights".

One of Ishlove's daughters, Juliette, 36, said her father was a "pillar of strength and an absolute rock".

She said he went where "angels feared to tread to protect".

"Daddy, we will miss your sharp intellect, wit and wisdom."

His elder daughter, Marcia, 38, said after her father was buried at West Park Cemetery that the family was extremely proud of him, and that he had been honoured fittingly by the police he served.

Ishlove's fellow reservist, Colonel Len Cramer, called him a "man's man".

"He was not afraid to spring into action and never flinched.

"He paid the ultimate sacrifice doing what he loved most."

Another reservist, Constable Cliff Bond, said Ishlove was a "true inspiration".

Bond was with Ishlove when he was killed.

"We left a great man behind. To South Africa he was a hero. His blood was truly blue."

Bond said people who believed that the police were too aggressive towards criminals should keep their mouths shut.

"Men lose their lives for the freedom we enjoy. They have to make judgments in a split second."

Ishlove was buried at the cemetery's Police Acre.

Gautengpolice commissioner Mzwandile Petros, whose home was broken into at the weekend, attended the funeral.

"I was privileged to be associated with him, though I didn't know him personally," Petros said.