Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has condemned the attack on metro police officers by criminals in the Philippi East area on Wednesday morning.
The two officers had stopped at the corner of Rochester and Stock roads at around 11.30am to issue a fine for a traffic infringement when two armed suspects accosted them and made off with one of the officers’ firearms and a hand-held Epic device.
Safety and security mayoral committee (Mayco) member JP Smith said the suspects opened fire and one of the officers fired off a single shot in response.
In CCTV video footage that captured the incident and was shared on social media the two men are seen approaching the vehicle where the unsuspecting metro police officer was performing his duties.
One of them pointed a gun at the officer. A brief scuffle ensued and the officer managed to move away from the vehicle. The men then returned to the vehicle where they removed something and before they could escape, one of them approached the officer, who was now on the other side of the vehicle, and grabbed something from him.
Smith said one of the officers sustained an injury to his hand and was receiving medical treatment, adding that the metro police department would ensure the necessary physical and psychological support to the officers through their employee assistance programme.
Smith said the Epic device was tracked to a nearby informal settlement and recovered, but the attackers were still at large.
“I appeal to the public to help us find them – the City has a dedicated tip-off line where residents can report crime and by-law offences anonymously, 24-hours a day, on 0800 110077.
“A reward of up to R5 000 is payable if the City’s policing resources achieve an operational result that directly relates to information received, like (an) arrest/s, confiscation of contraband or illegal firearms or the recovery of stolen goods,” he said.
The attack of City officials and police on the Philippi East area has been ongoing.
In April 2021, a 49-year-old off-duty member attached to the City of Cape Town’s metro police was shot and fatally wounded in Marikana.
The unknown suspects allegedly fled the scene in a vehicle that belonged to the deceased with robbery suspected as the motive for the attack.
This is also the area where two City sewer depot staff members were held at gunpoint, hijacked and robbed while working in Philippi East in January – months after a similar experience in the same area.