REST IN PEACE
Inspectors Frederick "Frikkie" van Heerden (West Rand dog unit)
Inspector Victor Nzama Mathye (West Rand dog unit)
Sergeant Gert Schoeman (West Rand emergency response service)
Constable Pieter Seaward (Johannesburg dog unit)
Protect And Serve - Not Die
My four brave buddies in BLUE
Today the Country salutes you
You were all an inspirational light
Keeping your mission and zest bright
Little did you ever know
What seeds of evil against you could sow
On Sunday 25th June 2006 you were on duty
Little knowing what was expected of you
To come up against the trained forced of evil
Lead to your fate by Lucifer, the Devil
You were outnumbered, outgunned and slain
Like pigs going to their slaughter
Out numbered, not once, out spirited
You stood your ground like heroes
You carried your cross like disciples
You paid the supreme price with your flesh
You have all earned a place in heaven
While your enemy will languish in HELL!
Copyright (c)2006 William Ernest Cox
The Incident:
The drama began on25 Sunday 2006 about 09:30 when a gang of more than 20 robbers descended on the supermarket in Honeydew on the West Rand armed
with AK47 Assault rifles and handguns.
Robbers held up cashiers and stole tens of thousands of rands, and also wounded a shopper. One of the robbers was wounded when police tried to stop the gang from escaping, but the others made their getaway in a BMW and minibus taxi. The fleeing robbers were followed by a police helicopter to a safe house at 54 Mordaunt Street, Jeppystown, Johannesburg.
On the scene at the supermarket in Honeydew ,members of the dog unit questioned the wounded man, and then drove to the gang's hide-out, joined by a Johannesburg flying-squad car. When they arrived at the Jeppestown house, bullets started flying. 4 SAPS members were ambushed and murdered. 8 robbers
were killed in the siege before the remaining 15 gang members surrendered. Ballistic evidence has shown that at least 27 firearms were used in the siege -
including an AK-47 - and that more than 110 shots were fired by the robbers and police have fired an estimated 300 rounds.
“Inside the house, two slain police officers - Constable Pieter Seaward and Inspector Gert Schoeman - on the floor in a final embrace. Seaward's right hand is resting on his colleague's arm, his left hand is tucked under Schoeman, only the hand protruding. Their blue uniforms are covered in blood and dust from the crumbling plaster. All around is the bloody chaos of a standoff that, in the end, claimed 12 lives. The wall above the officers is smeared in streaks of blood and riddled with bullet holes. At their feet is a bag used by the gang to carry their loot. The floor is a wild mess of clothes, suitcases, bags, takkies, newspapers, car tools, buckets
and coins. In the same room lie three dead robbers - one at the feet of the dead cops, one on the floor and one on his back on the bed. Five guns are scattered
around the bedroom.”
The police's intervention unit and the task force were called in to try to get the robbers out of the house. Sharpshooters and police were deployed all over the suburb and around the nearby Bertha Solomon Hall. Police negotiators convinced the gangsters to surrender and task force members entered the house just after 16:30
The 12 men and one woman face various charges of robbery, murder, attempted murder, and being in possession of unlicensed and illegal firearms. - See more at: http://www.southafricanpoliceofficersmemorial.com/honour-the-police-officers-in-the-jeppestown-massacre.html#sthash.zHHX3EDz.dpuf
January 31 2008 at 07:36am
By Alex Eliseev
For 19 months, photographs of the Jeppestown bloodbath lay hidden in police dockets and court files - but today it's clear why the June 25 2006 shootout was dubbed a massacre.
Some of the 1 000-odd images presented to the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday are too grisly to publish, but they tell the real and frightening story of a raid gone very wrong.
The most striking photograph shows two slain police officers - Constable Pieter Seaward and Inspector Gert Schoeman - on the floor in a final embrace.
Seaward's right hand is resting on his colleague's arm, his left hand is tucked under Schoeman, only the hand protruding.
Their blue uniforms are covered in blood and dust from the crumbling plaster.
All around is the bloody chaos of a standoff that, in the end, claimed 12 lives.
The wall above the officers is smeared in streaks of blood and riddled with bullet holes. At their feet is a bag used by the gang to carry their loot.
The floor is a wild mess of clothes, suitcases, bags, takkies, newspapers, car tools, buckets and coins.
In the same room lie three dead robbers - one at the feet of the dead cops, one on the floor and one on his back on the bed. Five guns are scattered around the bedroom.
The photo albums also contain pictures from the postmortems, detailed ballistic diaries, chilling glimpses inside other rooms at 54 Mordaunt Street, the areas surrounding the house, and money bags stolen from the Honeydew Pick n Pay and recovered in the hideout.
The much-awaited trial of the "Jeppestown Massacre 13" began on Wednesday after a two-day delay.
State prosecutor Joanie Spies read out the 23 charges and was met with defiant pleas of "I'm not guilty" on all counts from all accused.
This means the trial - set down until the end of March - is likely to run its full course.
The 12 men and one woman face various charges of robbery, murder, attempted murder, and being in possession of unlicensed and illegal firearms.
All but one accused exercised their right to remain silent. Zinto Mqunu claimed he had gone to the house to visit a sangoma and was not involved in the robbery.
Ballistic evidence has shown that at least 27 firearms were used in the siege - including an AK-47 - and that more than 110 shots were fired by the seized weapons.
The real figure - including shots fired by police outside the house - is closer to 300.
On Wednesday, 11 handguns and an AK-47 were laid out as evidence. The service pistols of Schoeman, Seaward, and inspectors Victor Mathye and Frikkie van Heerden were also presented.
Two witnesses were called to give evidence: a woman robbed outside the Pick n Pay and a supervisor on duty on that bloody Sunday.
Joanne Brown, who has an artificial leg, had parked in the disabled-parking spot outside the supermarket. As she opened the door, "a chap" appeared and ordered her to hand over her handbag.
She later saw a man with the bag - covered in "trinkets, teddy bears and silly things" - making a getaway. She spotted a red Honda Ballade and claimed it was used by the gang. The car was then linked to the scene in Jeppestown.
Sarah Marumole - a supervisor at the Pick n Pay since 2002 - was six months pregnant when the gang struck.
She said she worked with one of the accused, Mary Maleke, who is thought to be the insider at the store.
Marumole attended an identity parade at C-Max prison (where 10 of the accused are kept) but said she was too scared to point out anyone.
On Wednesday, she was given a set of photographs and picked out one of the faces.
None of the widows of the slain police officers were in court.
The trial continues.
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