On Sunday, April 15 2018, the family of slain Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) Inspector Ayanda Zulu will be saying their last respects when they take her to her final resting place.
Her family, husband and children will finally come to terms that they won’t see her bubbly face ever again. Two men gunned down Inspector Zulu outside the gate of her Palm Springs home as she was preparing to go to work in the early hours of Wednesday, April 4 2018.
She is the fourth JMPD officer slain this year.
Speaking at the memorial service of the 39-year-old inspector, on Thursday, April 12 2018, Johannesburg Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba expressed concern at the increasing number of police officers killed in the City.
“I have been in office for just over 20 months, and it hurts to think of the number of police funerals I have had to attend in such a short space of time.
“Here we are again today, gathered to mourn the life of one of our officers, brutally murdered by the people she is meant to protect. To most of us they are colleagues, but to their families they are brothers, sisters and in other cases bread winners.
“We thank the family of Ayanda Zulu for allowing her to serve the people of Johannesburg. I hope you can embrace the support of the City in these trying times,” said Mayor Mashaba.
Member of Mayoral Committee for Community Safety, Cllr Michael Sun, expressed concern at the rate at which police were being killed.
“We as the leaders in the City are working tirelessly to address the issue of police killed in the City. Do not for a second think the City does not care about your safety. We will do our best to create a safer working environment for our officer.
“We will not rest until the culprits face the full might of the law. Let us all stand together to send a message that police killings must come to an end. You must all be remembered as the people who answered the call to serve the people,” said Cllr Sun.
JMPD Chief David Tembe encouraged the family to work towards celebrating the life of the officer.
“Last week we buried one of us, here we are today in memory of another of us. We are here to celebrate the life of this beautiful soul. In 2010, she was part of the team that rendered an incident-free World Cup in the City of Johannesburg.”
“We lost one of the finest. Ms Zulu was no ordinary officer. Her humility and dedication to her work was an example we could all live by. She was a consistent officer, who always put the community first. We always hear about negative stories about JMPD officer in the media, but the good that our officers do goes unnoticed. Ayanda Zulu always put her community first, and her life is worth celebrating,” concluded Chief Tembe.
