Policeman ends life after hit-and-run

19 August 2024 - 15:04 By TIMESLIVE
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A police vehicle was reported stolen shortly after it was involved in a hit-and-run accident on the Phoenix highway in which 26-year-old mother of two Phumla Mtshali died.
A police vehicle was reported stolen shortly after it was involved in a hit-and-run accident on the Phoenix highway in which 26-year-old mother of two Phumla Mtshali died.
Image: RUSA

Police have confirmed a 48-year-old officer has taken his own life after a hit-and-run incident in which a 26-year-old woman died on the Phoenix highway on Saturday.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said investigations revealed mother-of-two Phumla Mtshali was allegedly knocked down by a black SUV — a police protection vehicle — and the driver failed to stop. 

An unknown person returned to the accident scene to retrieve the front registration plate which fell off during the accident.

Netshiunda said shortly after a case of culpable homicide was registered at Phoenix police station and a sergeant, who was the last person to be in possession of the state vehicle, went to the same police station to open a case of theft of a motor vehicle.

The vehicle was later found abandoned at sugar cane fields on Saturday.

On Monday, police received reports the officer implicated in the hit-and-run had taken his own life at an Umhlanga hotel.

The sergeant is understood to have called family members before he took his life. 

TimesLIVE


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