By Lisalee Solomons.
The City of Cape Town has put up an R250 000 reward for information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of those responsible for gunning down a Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officer in Nyanga on Friday night.
Zanikhaya Kwinana, 33, and two colleagues were driving in a marked Law Enforcement vehicle, on Miller Road en route to Bishop Lavis, when the gunman opened fire.
Mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said initial indications were that as many as 13 bullets had hit the vehicle.
“The shooter’s intent was very clear. This callous attack must be condemned in the strongest terms, and we will not rest until those responsible are caught and brought to justice,” he said.
According to Smith, when Kwinana’s colleagues realised he had been hit, they sped off to Heideveld Day Hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival.
“He had sustained gunshot wounds to the head,” he said.
The officers were carrying out patrols amid the ongoing taxi stayaway.
In a bid to find Kwinana’s killers, Mayor Geordin-Hill Lewis has put up the maximum award.
“All of Cape Town mourns with his family today. The City and SAPS will work together to bring his killers to justice, and we will offer the maximum possible reward to help the investigation,” the mayor said.
“We know we must persevere in the long and difficult task of building a society founded on the rule of law where criminals do not rule, and we will persevere despite all tragedies and setbacks.”
Taxi protests
Nyanga Community Policing Forum chairperson Dumasani Qwebe said residents had been pleading with the City since last year to take taxi protests seriously.
He said there had been numerous violent taxi protests in the area which had caused “havoc” among those needing to use their services every day.
“The City didn’t take our pleads seriously then. We told them that things could become deadly if they don’t intervene urgently. We told them that one day the result of these ongoing taxi strikes would be lives being lost, and that is exactly what we are seeing right now,” Qwebe said.
He said the CPF was “shocked and devastated” by the manner in which the officer had been killed, adding that it portrayed the area in a very bad light.
We are appealing to the City and taxi associations to please end this taxi strike to prevent more loss of lives. We need this strike to be called off urgently.
Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie said they were investigating the incident.
He said it could not be ruled out that the attack was related to the ongoing taxi strike. “However, the motive forms part of an ongoing investigation,” he added.
Kwinana is the second LEAP officer to be shot dead in less than a week.
On Sunday, 37-year-old Toufeeq Williams was killed while off duty when a stray bullet hit him in the head in Beacon Valley, Mitchells Plain.