'They deserved to come home’: Ramaphosa pays tribute to 12 fallen police officers

President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid an emotional tribute to 12 police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty, saying their deaths left behind grieving families, empty chairs and children growing up without their parents.

Speaking at the SAPS National Commemoration Day at the Union Buildings in Tshwane on Sunday, Ramaphosa said South Africa stood before its Roll of Honour with “grief and resolve”.

The 12 officers died during the last financial year. Nine were from Gauteng, while North West, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga each lost one member.

Among them was a mother of three from Temba Police Station and seven husbands and fathers of young children.

Ramaphosa highlighted the devastating impact of the killings on their families, including a woman who was pregnant when her husband was killed and another family whose father and husband left behind seven-month-old twins.

“Behind every police killing is a family story that has been permanently rewritten,” he said.

The president urged South Africans not to see the fallen officers as statistics.

“They had dreams. They had plans. They had people waiting for them at home. And they deserved to come home,” he said.

The youngest officer was only 25 years old.

Ramaphosa said several officers were killed while responding to business robberies, transporting awaiting-trial prisoners or carrying out routine patrol and crime-prevention duties.

He warned that attacks on police officers were attacks on the rule of law and the constitutional order.

“One fallen officer is still one too many,” Ramaphosa said, adding that one empty chair at a family dinner or one child growing up without a parent was unacceptable.

He also called on communities to help protect police officers and urged corporate South Africa to support SAPSET, which has assisted 2,215 children of fallen officers since 2010.

Addressing the families, Ramaphosa said their loved ones had not been forgotten.

“To the 12 officers… You served. You sacrificed. You gave everything. And South Africa remembers,” he said.