LIBODE, Eastern Cape — A massive Eastern Cape police manhunt is currently underway following the tragic killing of two police officers who were ambushed while responding to a spaza shop robbery in Libode. The fatal incident, which occurred in the early hours of Friday morning in the Ziphunzana locality near Mthatha, has prompted authorities to activate a 72-hour operational window to track down the suspects responsible for the attack.
The deceased officers, aged 51 and 30, were dispatched to reports of an armed break-in at a local spaza shop. One officer was attached to the Mthatha precinct’s public order policing unit, while the other served in the National Intervention Unit. Tragically, the assailants intercepted the responders just meters away from the store before they could intervene. Both officers sustained fatal gunshot wounds, and their service pistols were stolen during the ambush. No arrests have been made at this current juncture, and the whereabouts of the stolen firearms remain unknown.
Inside the targeted store during the break-in was Mr. Moses, a spaza shop worker who narrowly escaped the violence. According to his account, he was asleep inside the shop around 1:50 a.m. when he heard the sound of an angle grinder being used to break in. He immediately contacted his boss, who then alerted community neighbors for assistance. Before help could arrive, Mr. Moses heard gunshots and locked himself inside a secure room.
“I didn’t see them and they didn’t find me because I was inside. I locked myself in,” Mr. Moses stated, noting that while he could not confirm the exact number of attackers, the noise suggested a large group. Miraculously, the robbers fled the scene without stealing any merchandise or cash from the shop, and there were no fatalities among the civilians during the robbery itself.
The trauma of the event is compounded by a history of criminal activity at the location. Mr. Moses revealed that the rural shop is targeted by criminals roughly every two months. Citing severe concerns for his personal safety and a lack of perimeter fencing, he confirmed he will be relocating and will not continue working at the premises. The business has been temporarily closed for the day, and the physical crime scene has since been cleared by investigators.
In response to the killings, a heavy police presence has been established in the rural outskirts of the region, with multiple police vehicles conducting drive-bys and intelligence sweeps throughout the Ziphunzana area. Addressing the severity of the crime, Eastern Cape Police Commissioner General Natal issued a stern warning to the criminal elements involved. General Natal emphasized that an attack on law enforcement is a direct attack on the state, confirming that all available personnel have been deployed to the ground to follow up on active intelligence and apprehend the culprits before the 72-hour activation period expires.
