Suspects appear for officer’s death

Jason Felix

THERE was a heavy police presence at the Paarl Magistrate’s Court yesterday where two men – a police officer and his alleged accomplice – appeared on charges of murdering Klapmuts police officer Steven Britz a week ago.

Murder accused and suspended Klapmuts police constable Luvuyo Patrick Ndevu, 30, and Anele Pantsi, 33, were in the dock for allegedly shooting dead Britz, 44. They were also charged with stealing seven 9mm pistols from the police station’s firearms safe.

Ten men were arrested at a shebeen in Kayamandi last week after Britz was killed, but eight were released due to a lack of evidence.

Minutes into proceedings yesterday a relative of one of the accused broke down in tears in the packed courtroom where about 15 armed Public Order Police officers were present. Outside seven police vehicles escorted Ndevu and Pantsi.

Dressed in a Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club supporter T-shirt, Ndevu appeared stressed.

Pantsi, dressed in a white top that he used to cover his face, made no eye contact with anyone. Ndevu chose a Legal Aid lawyer while Pantsi decided to represent himself.

Magistrate Marietjie de Villiers warned Pantsi about representing himself. “Are you sure you want to represent yourself?” she asked.

“You will have to bring witnesses… It is never good to represent yourself in court. If you don’t have any legal knowledge please have the State appoint you a lawyer.”

The case was postponed to April 30. Ndevu and Pantsi will be kept at the Bellville police cells.

Police spokesman Andre Traut told the Cape Times police had not excluded the possibility that more suspects were involved in Britz’s murder.

Britz had been manning the charge office by himself just after 11pm on Wednesday, April 16, while two of his colleagues were out on vehicle patrol.

He was found lying in a pool of blood. It is believed three men arrived at the police station and rang the bell to enter. Exactly what happened after that remains unclear.

Britz was alone in the charge office because an officer from his four-member shift was on leave. Klapmuts police station has 40 members, with four on duty per shift, serving a community of about 15 000.

Britz, who was married and a father of two, had 22 years of service in the police.

He was the fourth officer to be attacked in the Western Cape this year and the third to die on duty.

Institute for Safety and Security, Crime, Justice and Governance head Gareth Newham said Britz’s murder indicated there were criminals within the police service.

“It is a terrible tragedy. But it shows that the police force does not have proper accountability methods and has not been trying to root out criminal elements.

“For any police station to be robbed is difficult to do without inside information.

“It has happened before, but to my knowledge, this is the first time an officer has been killed.”

jason.felix@inl.co.za