Two men are arrested for the murder of the policeman who responded to the robbery

Constable Syabunga Thango was shot dead when he and his fellow officers responded to robberies of several shops in Vosloros.

• Police have arrested two men in connection with the killing of 32-year-old police officer Syabunga Thango.
• The National Police Commissioner, General Fanny Masimula, ordered the immediate mobilization of resources in order to catch his killers.
• The two men were arrested after a shootoutn Sunday morning and one died in hospital

Two men were arrested on Sunday for the murder of a duty officer who was killed while responding to a robbery in Foslorus, Gauteng, on Friday.

One of the men died in hospital after his arrest.

Sunday morning, the investigation team into the murder of Constable Syabunga Thango, 32, arrested the two men after a shootout in Fosloros.

Thango was part of a group of crime prevention officers who responded to robberies in progress at several stores in the area.

Commenting on what happened at the scene of Thango’s killing on Friday, police spokesperson Brigadier Atlinda Mathi said the officer was injured during a shootout between the police and the robbery suspects, to which he responded.

He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died.

The National Police Commissioner, General Fanny Masimula, ordered the immediate mobilization of resources in order to catch the Thango killers.

He added, “The team followed up on Sunday morning information related to the whereabouts of the killers, and the police pounced on them and an exchange of fire took place in Vsloros.”

Read | A manhunt has been launched for a gang who shot and killed a police officer during an armed robbery in Gauteng

The two men, aged 27 and 29, were arrested and three firearms were seized.

The 27-year-old later died of his injuries in hospital.

Masimula commended the team for the swift arrests in connection with Thango’s killing.

The commissioner added that those behind the assault and killing of policemen should receive the maximum prison sentence because the killing is an assault on the authority of the state.

“To Constable Thango, the flag of the South African Police Service does not move because the wind blows it, but because of the last breath of members like you who died protecting it. Thank you for your courage, loyalty and sacrifice to serve and protect the people of the Republic of South Africa,” he said.

Thango had five years of service.