How they died

1. Constable Zamikhaya Patrick Hlangulela, 33, of Creighton, KwaZulu-Natal, and his station commander were killed during a police raid.

2. Captain Sydney Bongani Hlengwa, 47, Creighton station commander - father of five - was killed with Hlangulela when they demanded a liquor licence from the owner of a property they were searching.

3. Constable Fihliwe Mavis Bengeza, 25, killed while attending to an ATM bombing in Zonkizizwe, Gauteng. The single mother of an eight-year-old was shot in the face. She had been in the police for two months.

4. Student Constable Cannon Cloete, 23, killed while responding to a crime complaint in Kraaifontein, Western Cape with, 5. Warrant-Officer Gurswin Matthee, 39. Cloete had a three-month-old son, while Matthee was married with three children.

6. Warrant-Officer Leon Nieuwoudt, 38, of the Aliwal North stock-theft unit, had found four stolen sheep on an Eastern Cape farm in January. He called for backup, saying he had arrested two suspects, but when colleagues arrived the officer was dead, having been shot twice. His police firearm was missing.

7. Lieutenant-Colonel Dimpe Joseph Mokabane, 49, killed in Motetema, Limpopo, in July. He had been shot and then dragged into the middle of the road, where passing motorists drove over his corpse.

8. Reservist Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Ishlove, 60, of Fairlands in Randburg, Gauteng, was killed in June. He was assisting policemen to search for suspects when he was shot in the chest by one of the fugitives.

9. Constable Mogomotsi Masango, 27, of Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng, was shot dead in March when he and a colleague stumbled across an ATM bombing when they drove into a petrol station. The robbers opened fire when they saw the policemen. Masango died on the scene.

10. Constable M M Mathabatha was killed in March in Brackendowns in Alberton, Gauteng. Mathabatha had been called to the scene of a housebreaking in Brackenhurst, and fell off the roof of the house while chasing a suspect.

11. Warrant-Officer Bhekuyise Mboneni Mahlalela, 47, of the East Rand Flying Squad, was murdered in July, with his partner, 12. Warrant Officer Lefu Petrus Mokoena, 45. The pair had stopped to help two motorists whose vehicle had broken down near Zonkizizwe on the R103 (Old Heidelberg Road). But the "members of the public" were hijackers whose stolen car had run out of petrol. The criminals got out of the vehicle and opened fire on Mokoena and Mahlalela without warning.

13. Warrant-Officer Mxolisi Mdutyana, 44, was shot while chasing a criminal in the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Reiger Park, Ekurhuleni, in June. He had been a policeman for 20 years.

14. Constable Jim Meshack Cebekulu, 28, from Bethlehem in the Free State, was shot dead in May when five suspects made their escape from the holding cells in the Harrismith Magistrate's Court. The five were due to appear on charges of attempted robbery when they overpowered and shot two police officers. Cebekhulu was shot in the head and died in hospital. Four of the escapees were rearrested and the fifth died when he crashed the getaway car he and his accomplices had hijacked.

15. Student Constable Jacob Boleme, 26, stationed at Sutherland in the Northern Cape, was shot and killed by a reclusive French couple. Boleme and four other officers were responding to a call that the couple had an illegal arms cache. The father of two was killed during the raid and police launched a massive manhunt, which ended when the eccentric pair committed suicide.

16. Constable Katlego Moganei Mogane, 34, was killed in February in Pilgrim's Rest in Mpumalanga, allegedly by a colleague. Mogane tried to stop an argument between another policeman and that man's girlfriend, when he was shot in the head. The girlfriend was also shot, but survived.

17. Captain Mervin Reddy, 39, stationed in Pinetown, Durban, was killed in May when a group of known hijackers tried to steal his car. Reddy was reversing out of his driveway in Newlands West before driving to work, when he was shot. His killers died in a shootout with police four days later.

18. Warrant-Officer Johannes Jacobus Nortje, 51. The father of two was shot twice in the chest in January as he left his Montclair home to go to work at the Durban harbour. It is believed Nortje was assassinated because of his success in preventing the smuggling of drugs and other contraband goods through the harbour. Three men were arrested for his murder and a fourth was shot and killed.

19. Constable Noluthando Zakwe, 24, who was stationed at the Durban harbour, was shot dead, allegedly by a relative, in an argument over money. Zakwe, her family's sole breadwinner, was pregnant with her first child when she was shot and killed with her fiance. 20. Sibahle Blessing Buthelezi, 23, in April. The couple were off duty and sitting in a car parked in front of Buthelezi's house in Avoca Hills. Buthelezi was a data typist stationed at Greenwood Park and had applied to become a full-time officer.

21. Constable J L Mohlomi, attached to the technical response team in the Free State, was killed in February. He was stabbed to death when he tried to intervene in a fight between two people in a shebeen.

22. Student Constable Siboniso Zondi, 29, was stationed in Msinga, in Northern KwaZulu-Natal. He was fatally shot in February when he tried to calm down a colleague who was fighting with his girlfriend.

23. Constable Mawande Zanazo, 31, was shot and killed in January while off duty. He was stationed at Bhekithemba in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

24. Warrant-Officer Mandlenkosi Moses Gezana, 45, who had 18 years' service in the police force, was stationed at Marianhill, Durban, when he died. The father of two was shot in March while he was off duty.

25. Constable Senzo Sithembiso Ntanzi, 25, stationed at Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal, was gunned down in April while he was off duty.

26. Detective-Constable Anele Latile, 30, from the Elsies River police station, in the Western Cape, died when four men tried to hijack his car. Latile was sitting in the vehicle, which was parked outside his girlfriend's house, and chatting to two friends when he was shot in the head. His alleged assailants have been charged with his murder.

27. Captain Hasani Chauke, 45, who was stationed at Bramley in Johannesburg, died in March. The captain was off duty and driving through Kaalfontein, when three men hijacked his car.

28. Constable Enos Legodi, 30, was gunned down when he arrived home from work in March. Legodi, who was stationed at Silverton in Pretoria, Gauteng, was called to his gate - and then his attackers opened fire. Three men, including a policeman, were arrested for his murder, but released the next day because there wasn't enough evidence to link them to the murder.

29. Warrant-Officer Thokozani Ngcobo , 43, was killed in August in Ladysmith, in northern KwaZulu-Natal. He was shot several times as he was turning into his driveway.

30. Warrant-Officer Jan Matseke, 48, of Burgersfort, Limpopo, died in April when, while off duty, he went to the aid of a woman being mugged in Toronto section, Mankweng. Matseke, a Burgersfort Public Order policeman, was shot in the hip and died later in hospital.

31. Warrant Officer Rodney Mametja, 52, worked at the police garage in Lebowakgomo, about 230km north of Pretoria. The officer was in his private car when he was gunned down.

32. Constable Azwifaneli Matsedu, 28, was shot dead while she was at the Brukedo Hotel in March.

33. Constable Lufuno Sidwell Mudau, 33, stationed in Thohoyandou, about 200km north of Lebowakgomo, was shot in April while closing his tuckshop at Itsani village in Siloam. A suspect has been arrested.

34. S M Mbokota, of Calcutta in Mpumalanga, was found dead about 800m from his home in April. He had an open wound on his forehead and bullet wounds in his body.

35. Constable Njabula Mahlaba, 32, of the Mountain Rise police station in Pietermartizburg in KwaZulu-Natal, was shot in January when he and his girlfriend were walking home from a local shebeen. Two men were arrested.

36. Warrant-Officer Shepherd Zamukulunga Camagu was killed in May while he was helping a relative who had had an accident on the N2. Four robbers approached, shot Camagu in the head, stole items belonging to those on the scene, and then drove off. Camagu was stationed at the Msobomvu police station in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape.

37. Warrant-Officer Setonko Aaron Modukanele, 42, from Klipgat in North West, was shot in May during a hijacking while he was off duty. He died in hospital

38. Constable NM Maphothoma was shot and killed in March, also in a hijacking . The police officer, from Daveyton in Benoni on the East Rand, was off duty when he and a friend were attacked. The killers fled with Maphothoma's service pistol and cellphone.

39. Sergeant Calvin Nonyana was on duty alone at a Lenasia police satellite office, south of Johannesburg, when he was shot and killed in the early hours of a Sunday morning in June. His attackers fled with his cellphone and service pistol.

40. Captain Charles Muzikayise Xulu, 43, was shot eight times by a warrant-officer when the captain tried to evict his colleague from a property he owned in Pretoria. The father of three was stationed in Madadeni in KwaZulu-Natal. Xulu's killer turned himself in to the police after the shooting.

41. Captain Neelavathy Naidu, 46, was shot dead in August by a police clerk at the Rosebank police station in Johannesburg. The mother of two, whose husband committed suicide three months ago, was killed by David Kekana, 38, who wanted revenge after being fired for misconduct. After killing Naidu and seriously wounding the station commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Thandi Mkhize, Kekana committed suicide. Mkhize is recovering in hospital.

42. Captain Machoene, 51, from North West, died in July after arguing with a constable over potholes. The suspect allegedly took out a gun from his car, they wrestled for it and Mocheone was killed.

43. Lieutenant-Colonel Lekhnath Soogulam Iver, who was stationed in Ennerdale, Gauteng was shot dead by his mistress's husband.

44. Constable Sibongile Kgoale, 37, attached to the Soweto Dog Unit, was killed by her husband in April. She was shot outside their Protea Glen home in Soweto in front of their 14-year-old daughter. Kgoale was dragged out of her car and murdered before her husband set her car on fire and committed suicide.

45. Constable MJ Makua was shot by his wife - also a police officer - in February after she found her husband with another woman. Makua was stationed at Etwatwa on the East Rand, Gauteng.

46. Warrant Officer Humbulani Muthego, 47, was shot and killed by his son in June in Alexandra, Johannesburg. The son handed himself over and was charged with murder. It was alleged that the officer was killed after he had opened a case against his son for using his car without his consent. He was killed with his own service firearm.

47. Constable Abel Tyron Khosa, 25, stationed at Northam, Limpopo, was killed in June by his girlfriend, a police constable, who then turned the gun on herself.

Details on the circumstances of the deaths of the officers named below could not be obtained from the SAPS.

48. SA Magwaxaza

49. P Sibanyoni

50. L Malashi

51.. JH Swartz

52. MR Zungu

53. ZQ Gcwabaza

54. BG Mehlwana

55. EG Mugeri

All photographs and information supplied by SAPS head office and the nine provincial offices