KEY POINTS
- A national spotlight falls on two officers convicted of violent conduct.
- The officers fired shots after the man fled a traffic stop.
- They received concurrent sentences for attempted murder and assault.
Authorities revealed Monday that two Mpumalanga police officers who were found guilty of attempted murder and assault will serve five years in prison.
 Police officers jailed for attempted murder after traffic stop
Sergeants Steffans Breytenbach, 39, and Louis Venter, 40, were sentenced by the eMalahleni Magistrate’s Court for the May 2025 shooting.
According to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), the event happened during a traffic stop on May 11 at around 8:30 p.m.
The driver tried to escape after receiving a traffic violation, according to Ipid spokesperson Phaladi Shuping, and the officers opened fire.
“As officers started to issue a citation for a traffic violation, the traffic offender fled after being stopped at a roadblock,” Shuping said.
He stated that when the driver refused to stop and kept running, the cops pursued him and fired many shots.
According to iol, the suspected traffic offender, who was driving the car, lost control of it and sustained non-fatal injuries.
Breytenbach and Venter were both given five-year sentences for attempted murder and eighteen months for assault-related offenses, respectively, by the court.
The court decided that the sentences would be served consecutively, which means that both officers will be imprisoned for a total of five years.
Eastern Cape officer held after alleged fatal shooting
A female officer was detained by Eastern Cape police in a different case after she allegedly shot and killed her lover during a furious dispute.
Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana, a spokesman for the provincial police, stated that the officer was assigned to the Hogsback police station at the time of the arrest.
On Saturday, May 4, a fight broke out at their house as she and her boyfriend were leaving a traditional celebration.
“She allegedly pulled out her service gun during the argument and shot him once in the upper body,” Gantana stated.
She verified that the boyfriend’s single gunshot wound sustained during the altercation caused his death at the site.
Along with live ammo and other important forensic items discovered at the site, police also seized the pistol used in the event.
According to authorities, the officer is still being held while investigations are conducted under the supervision of oversight teams and provincial investigators.
Because of some officers’ violent behavior while on duty, law enforcement agencies have been under more scrutiny in recent years.
Holding law enforcement in South Africa responsible is still a priority for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.
