Detective Charl Kinnear – who was part of the anti-gang unit and was at the helm of investigations into gang and underworld figures – was assassinated outside his Bishop Lavis house last Friday.
Slain Western Cape top cop Charl Kinnear. Picture: Supplied
CAPE TOWN – The South African Police Union (Sapu) believes police killings have not received the prioritisation they deserve.
Detective Charl Kinnear was assassinated outside his Bishop Lavis house last Friday.
Kinnear was part of the anti-gang unit and was at the helm of investigations into gang and underworld figures.
The officer had a target on his back for quite some time and as a result, had police protection that was ultimately removed.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said grounds on which the removal of Kinnear’s police protection was authorised would form part of the investigation.
Sapu’s Tumelo Mogodiseng said an attack on a police officer was an attack on the state.
“Police killings should be declared treason. It is not enough for the minister to say he informed the President that the matter is serious. It means to us, as a union, police killings have not received the priority level they deserve.”
He also called for the murder and robbery unit to be re-introduced.
“That unit would not only address the problem of police killings; it is going to address murder, especially in the Western Cape where it is like the criminals are in charge. It can’t be correct in this country that we leave criminals to kill our police.”
He said they would be engaging with police pertaining to the removal of slain detective Kinnear’s personal protection.
“We are going to have a meeting with the Police Commissioner, specifically on the matter of the colonel and how did it happen that they removed state protection. However, the situations that the police are faced with on a daily basis are dangerous in nature.”
