Helen Zille, the DA’s Federal Chairperson, has spoken out about the killing of a KwaZulu-Natal police officer on duty, calling the incident a tragedy. However, the outspoken veteran politician has stirred some feathers once again on Twitter by comparing the cop’s death to that of George Floyd.
Warrant Officer Michael Jameson was killed at Umbilo, Durban, while attempting to prevent a hijacking in front of his daughter’s school. When Jameson spotted the hijacking in process, he was off duty and picking up his child. The suspects opened fire after he intervened. Jameson died at the scene of his injuries, according to police.
“In serving and safeguarding the citizens of our country, the late warrant officer died a hero. He served with honor and pride, putting the safety of his community ahead of his own. Please allow me to express my gratitude to the dead member.”
General Fannie Masemola is the national police commissioner.
HELEN ZILLE: KZN COP’S KILLING A ‘TRAGEDY’
Helen Zille, never one to hold out, believes that South Africans should be as upset by the KZN police officer’s death as they were when Floyd was killed by police.
“Tragedy. This should cause as much controversy in South Africa as George Floyd did. “This exemplifies what institutional violence in our country entails,” Zille wrote on Twitter.
Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for approximately nine minutes, killing him. Floyd was an unarmed black man in the United States. He died eventually, drawing attention to police brutality and the killings of unarmed African American men by law enforcement. It also sparked a worldwide wave of anti-police violence and racial protests, notably in South Africa.
Floyd was arrested after a convenience store employee claimed he had purchased cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. In 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years and 6 months in prison. The day after Floyd’s death, Chauvin and the other three former policemen — Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane – were discharged.