5 August 2013

 

The Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Lamoer

Deputy Provincial Commissioners of the Western Cape

Cluster Commanders of Nyanga and Khayelitsha

Station Commanders and commanders

Pastor Horn

Representatives of the labour movements POPCRU and SAPU

Beloved families,

Friends and colleagues of Sergeant Yengo, Constable Depha and Sergeant Mdlalo

 

Good afternoon

 

Lest we forget

I never dreamed it would be me,

My name for all eternity,

Recorded here at this hallowed place,

Alas, my name, no more my face.

"In the line of duty", I hear them say,

My family now the price to pay,

My folded flag stained with their tears.

We only had those few short years.

The badge no longer on my chest,

I sleep now in eternal rest,

My sword I pass to those left behind,

And pray they keep this thought in mind.

I never dreamed it would be me,

And with heavy heart and bended knee,

I ask for all here, from the past,

Dear God, let my name be the last.

 

When I read this poem, I knew that I would have to recite it here today on this occasion where we bid farewell to three of our heroes in blue.  Any one of the three could have written these verses as I am sure that not one of them, as they went about their daily duties and lives, thought that their passing would be so unexpected, or so violent.

 

Although every police official knows that their duties contain a great element of danger, the calling to protect and to serve is so great, that the danger seems insignificant.  And, deep down, we all think "It won't be me".

 

Constable Depha and Sergeant Yengo were on duty and going about their work professionally and capably when, in both - separate - incidents, the unexpected happened.  Constable Depha and his partner were arresting a suspected drunken driver, when the suspect suddenly produced a firearm and ended the Constables life in a split second. Sergeant Yengo was in a police vehicle, en route to performing a policing duty, when he was confronted, shot and robbed of his firearm.

 

In yet a third incident, Sergeant Mdlalo was off duty and in his home with his family, when a knock on the door brought evil into his home.  He was shot in front of his family and his official firearm was stolen from out of the safe.  It would appear that his service pistol was the target, so he was probably killed by virtue of the fact that he wears a blue uniform.

 

Our brothers in blue have left behind heartbroken families and devastated colleagues. No matter what we say here today, we can never give you your loved ones back.  But, believe me when I say that we feel your pain, we share in your sorrow, we acknowledge their sacrifices and we will hold their names high.

 

Just a few months ago, we were quietly celebrating the fact that the murder of police officials had quite drastically reduced, especially on duty-murders.  I even mentioned this in Parliament after Minister Mthethwa's Budget Vote speech.  But now, in a very short space of time, there have been a series of police murders in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and most recently, here in the Western Cape.

 

When I held my hand high and was sworn in as National Commissioner just over a year ago, probably the last thought in my mind was that I would be comforting widows and orphans on a regular basis.  But that is the reality.  On each occasion, my heart breaks just that little bit more. To witness my fellow citizens pain and suffering on have lost their life mates, their moms or dads, sisters or brothers, sons or daughters, leaves me feeling sorrowful, shocked and most definitely angry.

 

 

The last line of the poem I read out, is most certainly the most poignant line - Dear God, let my name be the last.

 

This was so telling, as earlier this year I stood at the National Police Memorial Wall, in the gardens of the Union Buildings, and I looked at the very long column of names of our fallen heroes and heroines etched on the wall.  And I thought to myself, as I ran my finger over the last name, Dear God let this be the last name.  But in just a few weeks' time, we will be back at the Union Buildings, paying homage to more policemen and policewomen who died while executing their duties, and there will be more names on that wall.

 

Fellow mourners, families, friends and colleagues, we all have a role to play to put an end to the criminal mentality which makes it "okay" to kill a law enforcement officer.  It is not okay to take any human life.  It is not okay to steal a policeman or policewoman away from their loved ones.  It is not okay to rob a community of their protector.  It can never be okay to gun down a man or woman in blue.

 

The murder of any police official should be on the front pages of all newspapers with a description of the suspect or suspects.  There should be no place for such criminals to hide in our communities. They must know that people are looking out for them and will phone and tip off the police as to their whereabouts.  Police colleagues must be out roaming the streets, speaking to informers and the community.  There should be no rest until the perpetrator is caught.  The courts, as has been shown in the past, must never give this person bail.  The prosecutors must have a good relationship with the investigating officer and present an air-tight case to the judge, who in turn must impose the maximum sentence permissible by law.

 

Last week, we destroyed over 40 000 illegal firearms and we will continue to seize firearms which are used to terrorise our communities and kill our colleagues.  We must also campaign for responsible gun ownership so that licensed owners know that they must make every endeavour to prevent their weapons falling into the hands of the criminal element.

 

At the same time, the police will be - and are - working on ever-improving on police safety measures.  We have an entire section under the Visible Policing Division which works full time on a strategy to prevent attacks on and murder of police officers.

 

Part of their duties even include visiting police stations, both in urban and rural areas, and studying working conditions, buildings, firearms and other equipment.  This is done with a view to implementing innovative changes which will make policing safer and more effective.

 

We will continue to work on this strategy, under the guidance of our Minister of Police who is just as passionate about this matter, until we can say that the last name has indeed been etched on that wall in Pretoria.

 

With the three members we are remembering here today, we have lost a combined 40 years of experience.

 

The death of police members signals two key issues for me:

 

1. The criminals are under a lot of pressure. They are fighting back. They are testing our resolve. I have a message for them: We will not back down. We will not give up. I urge all police members to continue to working hard to ensure that those who committed these senseless killings are caught and put behind bars. Allow the law to take its cause. Let justice be done.

 

2. We must ask ourselves if this constant, destructive and often undeserved public criticism of police is not an unintended consequence of these killings.

 

We must ask: Are we not causing animosity between the police and the communities with these utterances?

 

This is particularly true in this province of the Western Cape. In the last financial, there were 303 attacks on police members. This tells a story when you compare it with Gauteng's 77 attacks during the same period. Some of these attacks resulted in death.

 

I'm not saying we as the police are perfect. We have challenges, which we are addressing. We are committed to fighting crime and we are committed to working with everyone who wants to fight crime. But we must work together to end the senseless killings of our members and these unnecessary and baseless criticism.

 

In conclusion, allow me to end with the last two sentences of another poem, dedicated to our fallen heroes, called In God's Arms. 

 

In God's loving arms, these men shall ever rest, their badges shining proudly upon their blue chests.

 

Thank you for the privilege of sharing this service with you.

 

General Riah Phiyega

The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service

 

 

Media Enquiries: Lieutenant General Makgale