Another Cape Town cop killed, off duty and unarmed outside his home

The Hawks are investigating the murder of 40-year-old Mitchells Plain detective Vuyani Fani who was shot outside his Cape Town home while he was unarmed and off-duty.

The police sergeant, who was stationed with the Mitchells Plain detective branch, was killed in Site B Khayelitsha by three unidentified gunmen on Sunday evening.

Western Cape police spokesperson Sgt Noloyiso Rwexana said the attackers took only Fani's cellphone.

She said he was unarmed.

Fani's murder is the latest in a spate of police killings in the area.

On August 10, 33-year-old constable Arthur Matu's charred remains were found in his burnt-out vehicle in the same area. 

Another police officer, constable Siyamcela Ncipa, 37, was shot and killed 10 days later in Khayelitsha and his firearm was stolen.

On the same weekend, in Delft, constable Lonwabo Kili was also shot dead and his firearm was stolen.

The date for Fani's state funeral is yet to be announced. 

In mid-2018, three tik addicts who killed constable Mziwonke Siwisa by shooting him in the back during an orgy of crime were handed life jail terms. The high court in Cape Town also convicted them on a slew of other charges, including robbery and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

Eric Ntabazalila‚ spokesperson for the prosecution in the Western Cape‚ welcomed the convictions. "An attack on a police officer is an attack on the people of Wallacedene‚ the Kraaifontein community in general and the people of South Africa. Such people deserve to be punished and given sentences that will send out a very clear message that crime does not pay and will not be tolerated," he said.