Constable Thando Sigcu, 38, was shot dead after apprehending a robbery suspect near a fast food outlet on the Foreshore at around 21:00 on Tuesday.
"It is reported that the constable was on patrol in plain clothes with his crew near one of the hotspots in the Cape Town CBD when they saw two suspicious males walking in Adderley Street and approached them, but the two fled in different directions," Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale told News24.
They chased after the men and Sigcu caught one of them.Mogale said the suspect allegedly resisted and fought Sigcu on the corner of Adderley Street and Hertzog Boulevard.
"Whilst the scuffle between the constable and the suspect was under way, two law enforcement officers in uniform drove past and observed what appeared to be an armed male attacking another person," said Mogale.
The officers apparently reversed and stopped the vehicle in the road to intervene.
"One of the armed law enforcement officer[s] confronted the two men and ordered the unbeknown to him constable in plainclothes to drop his firearm. He then fired two shots, fatally striking the SAPS (SA Police Service] member in the chest and wounding the suspect in the face."
Sigcu died on the scene. The 30-year-old suspect was taken to a nearby hospital under police guard.
Mogale said that packets of tik [methamphetamine] and mandrax tablets were found in his possession in hospital.
No arrests yet
No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, said Mogale.
The City's safety and security director, Richard Bosman, confirmed that a "law enforcement officer was involved in a shooting incident in the central business district".
Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson Sontaga Seisa told News24 that the incident was not within their mandate "as the official who discharged the firearm is not a SAPS or Metro Police Department member."
Sigcu was attached to the Cape Town Central police station and had been in the police force for five years.
