Treat police killings as treason, unions say as slain Cape cop is remembered

The killing of police officers should be treated as treason and a crime against the state, police unions said on Wednesday as colleagues and family gathered to remember Capt Zamani Mzayiya, who was killed in a shootout in Knysna last week.

Members of the SAPS and police unions packed Customs House in Cape Town for Mzayiya’s memorial service, where colleagues remembered the fallen officer through song and described him as a dedicated policeman and leader who always led from the front.

Mzayiya’s wife and five children were among those who attended the emotional service.

Mzayiya was killed during a shootout between police and a suspect in Knysna. The suspect was also killed.

He had been part of a contingent of officers deployed to Knysna after a series of deadly shootings in the area. The violence claimed the lives of three men, including councillor and former Knysna mayor Aubrey Tsengwa. Mandla Matiwane and Mandla Tyololo were shot dead a day later.

South African Policing Union Western Region chairperson Mark Meiring described Mzayiya as a dedicated police officer and warned that the country was losing those entrusted with protecting its citizens.

“We are losing protectors because of criminals,” Meiring said.

“South African citizens will have nowhere to run to if they attack us as police. Once they start killing us, communities will start losing hope in the police. We have to do something about the killing of police officers.”

Archie Mokgothu, deputy chairperson of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) in the Western Cape, said police officers were increasingly leaving their homes to protect communities without knowing whether they would return to their families.

“We are sick and tired of seeing our members not coming back to their families,” he said.

Mokgothu said an attack on a police officer should be viewed as an attack on the state and the country’s constitutional order.

“When a police officer is being attacked, it is an attack on the social contract of South Africa. The social contract of South Africa is the constitution of South Africa, the very same contract that mandates you as a police officer,” he said.

“Our members leave their families to go and protect the constitution of South Africa, to prevent crime and protect the inhabitants of South Africa.”

Mokgothu called for a national debate on changing the law so that the murder of a police officer could be treated as a crime against the state.

“It should be declared a crime of treason, and that conversation needs to start [in parliament] so that we can legislate it,” he said.

“If you keep on taking away this layer of protection, what does it say to the South African citizen? We cannot allow that. It cannot happen.”

He said Popcru condemned Mzayiya’s killing “in the strongest possible terms”.

Mzayiya’s colleagues remembered him as a policeman with strong leadership qualities who was prepared to put himself in harm’s way to protect others.

“He always led from the front,” one tribute read. “He led his life as a sacrifice so that the wolf will never come into your house.”

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