Cop killed in front of his home
VICTIM: Sergeant Thabile Mapoma, 43, was killed outside his Khayelitsha home
Cops are hunting for the killers of a police officer who was shot dead in front of his home on Thursday morning.
Sergeant Thabile Mapoma, 43, who had 19 years of service in SAPS and was stationed at the Harare Police Station in Khayelitsha, was shot while sitting in his car in his driveway in Cula Street.
His traumatised wife Nobongisa Mapoma, 36, says her husband had just dropped her at the local taxi rank as she was going to work.
“When I got to work, I got a call from one of my children who told me what happened,” she says.
Nobongisa says their four children, aged 14, 11, 10 and two years old, have lost a loving dad.
“I’m deeply hurt by what happened because our children are still young and now they will grow up without a father. I don’t know what caused these people to do this because my husband was a very good man,” the crying widow says.
The heartbroken woman says they don’t know what the motive behind the attack is as nothing was taken from her husband.
Thabile’s brother-in-law Similo Ntywele says he got a call around 7am to hurry to Cula Street.
“I could hear that something was wrong from the person who called me,” he says.
“When I arrived, there were police and an ambulance already and from what I hear, two men shot him and did not give him a chance to step out of the car.”
He added that Thabile was a uniformed police officer and “he was not investigating any case that would lead us to believe that it is the cause”.
Police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut says detectives are now probing the circumstances that led to the death of the cop.
“At around 6am, a 43-year-old sergeant stationed at the Harare Police Station was shot and killed while sitting in his vehicle in front of his residence in Cula Street, Harare, by suspects who are yet to be arrested,” says Traut.
He says the motive for the murder is unknown at this stage and any person who can assist police with the investigation is requested to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.