SAPS to honour 27 fallen officers in annual commemoration
SAPS commemorates 27 officers who died in the line of duty.
Image: SAPS
The South African Police Service (SAPS) will honour 27 officers who died in the line of duty over the past year, as part of its annual commemoration held every first Sunday of September.
This year's roll of honour includes 26 men and one woman.
"We have 19 that were sadly shot and killed in the line of duty, six died in motor vehicle collisions and one was hit by blunt force trauma to the head," said police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.
Alongside the commemoration, SAPS confirmed that R42,134 had been raised through crowdfunding platform BackaBuddy for the South African Police Education Trust Fund (SAPSET), which supports the children of fallen officers.
The funds were initially raised in a campaign to buy two cows for Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi but were redirected after he declined the gift in line with SAPS policy. The donation were then redirected to the SAPS Educational Trust.
"The social media community was asked to redirect the funds to SAPSET to pay for school fees, buy school uniform and stationery for the children," Mathe said.
National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola thanked the public, noting the long-term impact of the fund.
"These funds will go a long way in assisting us to keep these children in school. To date, the fund has paid for school fees of more than 1,700 children.
“More than 140 have already obtained their senior certificate and at least 54 have already obtained a post school qualification including diplomas and degrees,” he said.
Since its inception in 2010, SAPSET has raised more than R21 million to ensure the children of fallen officers remain in school.
"To all the social media users who contributed to this good cause, may your pockets never run dry and may you continue to bless others as this espouses the true spirit of Ubuntu which South Africans are known for," Mathe said.
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