‘It’s a pain to me,’ says brother after constable killed in robbery

Cape Town – Western Cape police have launched a manhunt for two suspects who fatally shot 32-year-old constable Ayanda Moyikwa during a robbery in Mfuleni, Cape Town on Sunday.

Moyikwa, en route to work at Cape Town International Airport, was waiting for a colleague in his vehicle when he witnessed a robbery and attempted to intervene.

The suspects, armed with guns, shot him as he reversed his car.

Western Cape Police Commissioner Thembinkosi Patekile, who visited the crime scene, denounced the incident.

“We woke up this morning to a report around 06:00 that we had lost one of our members of the border police in the Western Cape, as he was fetching one of his colleagues… in the area of Umfuleni.

#sapsHQ Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili has condemned the attacks and killing of the men and women in blue and called on communities to work with the police by reporting criminals and criminality in communities. Lt Gen Mosikili says ongoing attacks and killing of police… pic.twitter.com/KavXtnvEaM

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) January 12, 2025

“As he was waiting, he noticed a crime that was happening in front of him and as he was about to respond, he was approached by the two suspects who went into his private armed vehicle that he was using … and shot him,” Patekile said.

She added: “The colleague, who was to be collected was awaiting to hear from him if he was around the area when he heard the gunshots… He went out to investigate. To his sadness, he found the very person that was supposed to fetch him already deceased in the vehicle. Which confirmed that the three gunshots that he heard as he was waiting, were directed to his colleague.”

Patekile expressed concern over the rise in police killings, with Moyikwa being the fifth officer killed recently.

According to SABC News, Moyikwa’s death has left his family devastated, particularly his brother, who shared a close bond with him.

“I don’t know what I must say because it was my little brother. We were staying together, then now I’m going to stay alone here. I don’t have friends, that guy was my friend. If he is at work I stay alone here, then when he comes back, we sit together and do everything together. It’s a pain to me,” the report quoted Moyikwa’s brother Thandikhaya as saying.

Moyikwa was preparing to celebrate his daughter’s second birthday on Wednesday and his own on Friday.