The notorious Tembisa cop killer, Joshua Bomba Shongwane was arrested by the Hawks’ Tactical Operations Management Section (Toms) with the help of the National Investigation Unit (Ninu) on Monday, 1 November at his hiding place in Eersterust, Pretoria after he shot and killed Captain Lamola while escaping from the Tembisa Magistrates’ Court on 12 October.

Shongwane was initially released on bail in another murder case, but was rearrested for armed robbery and was set to appear in the Tembisa Magistrates’ Court when a scuffle ensued between him and a number of police officers.

During the scuffle, he shot and killed one of the officers, a Captain Lamola, and fled the scene. Shongwane, who was considered highly dangerous, then went on the run, but the Toms and Ninu tracked him down and arrested him. He was found in possession of an Audi A1. It was later discovered that the vehicle had been hijacked in KwaThemba, Springs, during September.

Shortly after Shongwane was first apprehended by the police, it was found that he had also committed various crimes in Kagiso in 2012, among them allegedly hijacking a vehicle that was delivering cigarettes at a shop in Swanieville. He allegedly manhandled the vehicle’s driver, and stole his cellphone before fleeing the scene with the vehicle.

The suspect then allegedly took another person hostage and tied him up inside the vehicle. The hostage managed to escape by kicking the vehicle door open while Shongwane was driving.

Warrant Officer Solomon Sibiya, the Kagiso Police spokesperson, said Shongwane will probably also be charged with and tried for armed robbery.

Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, the MEC for Community Safety, expressed her heartfelt condolences to Captain Lamola’s family, friends and fellow police members. She went on to say: “I am totally disturbed by the brazen attack and disregard these callous criminals have for our police officers I appeal to the criminal justice system to apprehend the suspect and ensure that he receives the harshest sentence.”

Lieutenant General Mthandazo Ntlemeza, the National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation praised the Toms and Ninu teams for following up on leads that led to the arrest of this cop-killing suspect. “People who threaten the security of our state by killing police officers will be hunted down and we will ensure that they face the full wrath of the law.”

Shongwane will appear in the Tembisa Magistrates’ Court on charges of murder, hijacking, escaping from custody, possession of an unlicensed firearm and possession of a hijacked motor vehicle.

“No one kills a police officer and gets away with it,” Ntlemeza said.

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