Two Mpumalanga police officers have been sentenced to five years imprisonment for attempted murder and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm by the eMalahleni Magistrate’s Court.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) said Sergeant Steffans Breytenbach, 39, and Sergeant Louis Venter, 40, shot at the man on May 11, 2025, around 8:30pm after he tried to evade being served with a traffic sanction.
“The traffic offender was stopped at a roadblock but sped off from the roadblock as he was being issued a traffic fine. The police gave chase and fired several shots at the vehicle when he refused to stop. The victim, who was an alleged traffic offender, lost control of the vehicle and sustained body injuries,” said Ipid spokesperson, Phaladi Shuping.
Shuping said Breytenbach and Venter were sentenced to five years for attempted murder, and 18 months for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The court ruled that the sentences will run concurrently, meaning that they will effectively serve five years behind bars.
In another matter, an Eastern Cape police officer was arrested for allegedly fatally shooting her boyfriend following an argument in Alice.
Provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana, said the officer who is attached to the Hogsback police station, was with her boyfriend returning from a traditional ceremony on Saturday, May 4, when an argument broke out while they were at their residence
“During the altercation, it is alleged that the suspect drew her official firearm and fired a single shot, fatally wounding her boyfriend. The deceased sustained a gunshot wound to the upper body,” said Gantana.
Gantana added that police confiscated one firearm, along with ammunition and other pertinent forensic samples at the scene.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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