The City of Tshwane has added 20 bicycles to the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) Bicycle Unit in a effort to improve safety in Hatfield, Pretoria, following the murder of University of Pretoria (UP) student in September.
Thapelo Menwe was gunned down outside his TuksDorp residence last month by armed robbers who wanted his cellphone.
City of Tshwane mayor Randall Williams was at Hatfield to oversee the bicycles being deployed in Hatfield. It is hoped the bicycles will increase police visibility.
“Following the recent senseless killing of a University of Pretoria student, today we are in Hatfield to boost security and increase police visibility by deploying an additional 20 bicycles to our TMPD Bicycle Unit in the area,” said Williams.
Williams said the bicycle unit was initially launched in 2017 and was expanded as a fully operational TMPD satellite station in 2019.
He said they already had about 10 TMPD officers on a daily basis who were monitoring the area.
READ MORE: Two arrested for University of Pretoria student’s murder
Murder of Thapelo Menwe
The murder of the Menwe raised safety concerns for students living in the area. They called for increased security from the university and visible police patrols.
Menwe was shot dead in the early hours of 10 September after being followed by an armed robber.
CCTV footage showed the robber demanding Menwe’s cellphone and belongings and then moving a step back then shooting him in the upper body.
Menwe fell on the ground and the robber began searching his body for more valuables before fleeing the scene.
The student unfortunately died on the scene.
The suspect, along with his accomplice, were arrested shortly afterwards by police and security officers during a patrol.
The pair were stopped when police saw that the car that looked like the getaway car captured on the CCTV footage.
The accused, Bongani Sibiya and William Seema Makgoba, aged 33 and 38, were found in possession of unlicensed firearms, ammunition and Menwe’s belongings.
The have since appeared at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on charges of murder, robbery and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
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