The family of 56-year-old Captain Danasegran Pather says they have lost their pillar of strength. Pather was among two police officers from the Hammarsdale Police Station who were shot and killed while on duty on Saturday night.

The trio was responding to the murder of a woman in the Cliffdale area. While they were attending to the scene, the alleged perpetrator returned and opened fire, fatally wounding two officers.

“As family members, it is hurtful, emotional but it is something that reality knocks home and when it knocks home it has a different effect. I have been a policeman myself for 42 years, but when it knocks home it is different. As a family, it is emotional. He’s been a bread winner. He’s been a pillar, support for the entire Pather family and I think his dedication and commitment exuded in his work and his social life,” says family spokesperson, Major General Gops Govender

Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says investigations are continuing.

“Although, we know that the suspect that shot our members, he was also shot by the very same members, and he died. So, he’s been found and confirmed because the firearm that has been found from one of our members also has been recovered from him. So, we’re quite okay with that but we still have to establish who was behind it? Was he working alone or with someone that made him do what he did,” says Mkhwanazi.