• KZN Police Commissioner says citizens and officers are being killed by ruthless criminals who kill without hesitation.

• He says more than 4,000 people were murdered in the past year, including police officers and suspected criminals.

KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has called on citizens and police officers not to die at the hands of criminals.

Speaking in Durban after releasing the latest provincial crime stats, Mkhwanazi said crime has slightly gone down but murder cases are up, with more than 4,000 people killed in the last financial year.

Among the victims were four police officers and 105 suspected criminals, killed in the first three months of the year alone.

“As much as the community of KwaZulu-Natal shows a positive response towards the work of the police, we still have criminals who are heartless and don’t forgive if you resist,” said Mkhwanazi.

“If you resist when they want something from you, they don’t hesitate to kill you. That’s why I am saying no citizen of this province or a police officer should die in the hands of criminals.”

Mkhwanazi said they want to bring murder numbers down to the levels seen in 2020.

He praised community members who are helping the police by patrolling their streets and giving information about criminals.

On Tuesday, Mkhwanazi met with the security industry to make plans to deal with cash-in-transit heists, which he called a “devil” troubling the province.

He said the meeting made them realise that they need tighter cooperation with security companies to tackle the problem.

He ended with a message of hope, saying the province’s 12 million people should keep working with the police to fight crime.

“Our job is to keep KwaZulu-Natal safe and to take criminals off the streets and put them in prison,” he said.

Pictured above: KZN Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says no citizen or police officer should die at the hands of heartless criminals.

Image source: Instagram