Cape Town - It was another tragic day for the men in blue when a cop allegedly gunned down his girlfriend before turning the weapon on himself.
The 28-year-old police officer attached to the VIP Protection Unit apparently committed suicide on Wednesday as his colleagues arrived at his house to arrest him for the murder of Thulelwa Nogilana, 34.
Cops found Constable Sithembele Makha’s body inside his bedroom at his home in Kuyasa, Khayelitsha.
Hours earlier, Thulelwa’s body was discovered slumped against the kitchen door at her home in G Block, Lingelethu West.
Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut says the mom of one was killed around 7.30am, after arguing with her boyfriend.
“The suspect fled the scene. Later the same day the partner of the victim allegedly committed suicide at his residence in Kuyasa, Harare.
He was stationed as a constable at Protection Security Services in Rondebosch.
“The circumstances surrounding his death are being investigated and a death inquest case docket has been registered.”
Traut says the Independent Police Investigative Directorate [IPID] is investigating Thulelwa’s murder.
According to relatives, Makha called Thulelwa’s sister minutes after her murder.
She says Makha had spent the night with Thulelwa.
“The morning they argued, he shot her and then called her sister and told her what he did and that he had locked the house and informed her where to get the keys,” says the woman, who asked not to be identified.
“When the sister arrived, she found Thulelwa on the ground leaning against the kitchen door with her hands over her head.
“Sithembele then came home, his mother was asleep and he went to his room.
“I arrived shortly after 11am and as I was leaving, this small army of police arrived, I guess to arrest him.
“They called him out and he agreed to come out and they made room for him to exit the house but he went to his room.
“When he didn’t come out, police went in and found him kneeling over the bed with blood splattered on the bedspread.
“We were sitting in the house and didn’t even hear the gunshot.”
The woman added: “He leaves behind a seven-month-old baby he had with another girlfriend.”
Daily Voice