Law enforcement officer killed during mini-bus taxi violence

Police are investigating the murder of a Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officer, Zanikhaya Kwinana who was killed on Friday during routine patrols. 

The 33-year-old officer was shot at while driving in a vehicle with two other officers in Nyanga, Cape Town. 

ALSO READ: Taxi strike: Cape chamber calls for zero-tolerance approach

LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY

SA police service’s, Malcolm Pojie said, “Nyanga Saps has opened a murder docket as well as two charges of attempted murder for further investigation following the fatal shooting which claimed the life of a law enforcement officer, Friday, 04 August 2023 at about 20:15 at Miller Road, Nyanga.”

ALSO READ: Taxi strike affecting waste services in these parts of Cape Town

Kwinana was seated at the back of a vehicle when a suspect opened fire while they were travelling on Miller Road, enroute to Bishop Lavis. By the time Kwinana reached the closest clinic after sustaining gunshot wounds to the head, he was already dead. 

ATTACK ON OFFICERS POSSIBLY RELATED TO TAXI STRIKE

Pojie said, “(The) possibility that the attack is related to the ongoing taxi-strike cannot be ruled out. However the motive forms part of ongoing investigation. 

“The officers were part of members performing crime prevention patrols to quell taxi related incidents that have unfolded in the province,” Pojie said. 

ALSO READ: Cape Town student missing after having to walk home

Commenting on the incident, Democratic Alliance (DA) Community Safety spokesperson Gillion Bosman said Three LEAP officers were travelling in an official vehicle when they came under a hail of bullets. Bosman said the two other officers escaped unharmed.

ALSO READ: [Watch] Taxi strike: Buses and e-hailing cars go up in flames

“The strike has lost any sense of legitimacy, and has now become nothing more than an excuse for public violence, murder and intimidation. Those who have condoned the lawlessness and unrest caused by this strike are complicit in officer Kwinana’s death.

“By encouraging chaos, a volatile situation has been created which has resulted in tragic and unnecessary bloodshed,” Bosman said.