Pretoria - A 37-year-old police constable, attached to Masoyi police station in Mpumalanga, is appearing in court after he allegedly gunned down his wife, her sister and her brother.
Acting national spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), Robbie Raburabu said the police officer allegedly used his service pistol to slaughter the siblings.
“The family were meeting, following a dispute between the suspect constable and his wife. When things did not go the suspect’s way, he decided to go fetch his service pistol and fatally shot the three family members, including his wife.
Ipid investigators were summoned to the crime scene at Kamajika Trust near Sabie Sand in Mpumalanga province.
“The suspect member was arrested on the scene and detained. He is appearing in the Kabokweni Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, May 2, 2023 to face three counts of murder,” said Raburabu.
Last year, four lives were lost in Mpumalanga when a former police officer turned the gun on himself after allegedly shooting his wife and gunning down three of her siblings during a family argument.
At the time, in March last year, the deceased former policeman’s wife was fighting for her life in hospital, while her three older siblings – two sisters and a brother – were fatally wounded by her husband.
The former police constable died by suicide after turning the gun on himself.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala described the incident which took place in Standerton on a Sunday night as “horrific and shocking”.
“Police report indicates that on the said day, a 36-year-old woman, her two sisters, aged 40 and 44, as well as her 37-year-old brother, were allegedly shot by the woman's husband.
“The woman (wife) sustained serious injuries and is fighting for her life in hospital while her siblings, unfortunately, succumbed to the shots,” said Mohlala.
Mohlala said the 37-year-old man, the assailant, was also found with a gunshot wound lying next to his firearm. He was also certified dead at the scene.
IOL