Over R6 mn raised towards educating children of slain cops
More than R6 million has been pledged towards the South African Police Education Trust Fund which funds the educational needs of the children of slain police officers.
The police service marked this year’s National Police Day, which is observed on 27 January, by hosting a fundraiser golf day that saw more than 100 golf players from various corporate companies participating and pledging funds.
More than 140 police officers have been killed in the line of duty over the last four years.
“These are men and women in blue who died in the line of duty, serving and protecting all people living in South Africa,” said National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe.
The fund caters for the needs of children from grade RR right up to tertiary level.
“To date, the fund has assisted 1078 children. Fifty-four of them have graduated and 146 of them have completed and are in possession of a National Senior Certificate,” elaborated Mathe.
#sapsHQ The South African Police Service (SAPS) has observed this years’ #NationalPoliceDay by raising funds for the children of police officers who died in the line of duty. R6,6 million rand was raised and will go towards the educational needs of the children.
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) January 27, 2024
The management of… pic.twitter.com/LiSsRbAhNu
At the same time, Police Minister Bheki Cele thanked all sponsors and donors, saying the funds go a long way towards making a meaningful difference in the lives of the affected children.
“The least we can do is ensure these children dont carry an extra burden of stressing about school fees, books, school uniform knowing their educational needs have been taken care of. We hope more corporates and the overall business fraternity will in future come on board to support this cause.”
National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola paid tribute to the men and women in blue for their commitment to serving the country.
“Let’s continue to work hard to rid our country off criminality. We urge communities to embrace our police officers and work together with them to stop the killing of our own.”
Thirty-three police officers have been killed in the line of duty since January 2023 to date.
ALSO READ:
