Police minister Bheki Cele speaks at a media briefing. Police Minister Bheki Cele said they will soon arrest people who murdered a Rand Water official. icture: Jacques Naude/Independent Newspapers
Police Minister Bheki Cele says they are hot on the heels of the suspects who are involved in the murder of a senior Rand Water official, who was shot dead in Johannesburg in January.
The Rand Water official, Teboho Joala, was shot dead by gunmen who opened fire, killing him and his bodyguard, during a donation drive held at a community centre in the south of Johannesburg.
Cele said after the arrests of seven suspects for the murder of Kiernan “AKA” Forbes and his friend Tebello “Tibz”’ Motsoane they will soon be making arrests of those behind the murder of Joala and his bodyguard at Zakariyya Park.
City of Johannesburg chief whip Sithembiso Zungu, who was part of officials attending the event at the school, was wounded during the attack.
The incident left the City of Johannesburg and Rand Water officials shocked.
Joala was Chief Corporate Shared Services Officer at the time of his murder.
It was reported that Joala had received death threats before the incident.
But Cele said they have been making arrests in high-profile cases. He said they arrested well-known alleged gang members in Cape Town.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) will be making arrests soon on those involved in the murder of Joala.
“But again the police have just done a big takedown announced (on Tuesday). That includes the murder of the German tourist in Limpopo. Those people have been arrested.
“We are about to arrest those that killed the water official (Joala). You are about to know them. We are chasing them,” said Cele, who was replying to questions to ministers in the security cluster.
He said the police will continue to employ new officers.
He said 10,000 new recruits will join this year after 20,000 joined the SAPS in the last two years.
Cele said most of the new recruits were deployed to the Public Order Policing.
Others are sent to other specialised units to crack down on crime in the country.
They want to increase the number of police officers on the ground.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
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