Pretoria - Family, colleagues and top police brass bid an emotional goodbye on Thursday to the seven policemen tragically killed in a helicopter crash in Mpumalanga.
Colonel Teboho Percy Maduna, Warrant Officer Colin Davids, Warrant Officer Dirk Cornelis van Aswegen, Sergeant Jacobus Henning and Sergeant Daniel de Bruin, Captain Wikus Zaayman and Warrant Officer Thinus Gouws were remebered as heroes during a memorial service at the Hatfield Christian Church in Pretoria.
Zaayman, who was the pilot of the helicopter, and Gouws were part of the Pretoria Air Wing, while the remaining five men were members of the National Intervention Unit (NIU).
The seven policemen died while responding to a robbery in Witbank on Friday. Their helicopter crashed and exploded about 5km outside Witbank.
Speaking at the memorial service, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said South Africans had lost some of the country's most gallant fighters for safety and security.
"It is indeed with a deep sense of sorrow and pain, and yet with pride that we today bid and bestow upon them, their final farewell and honour," he said.
Mthethwa said the NIU and the seven policemen in particular were pivotal in the successful hosting of the World Cup.
"Today we speak without fear of contradiction or exaggeration when we say the World Cup's success was by and large as a result of the enormous contribution and role played by our National Intervention Unit," the minister said.
He added that the success of the soccer tournament was a true pinnacle of the policemen's hard and smart work.
"The heroic example set by these sons of our soil shall forever serve as an inspiration within the ranks of our fearless fighters against crime," Mthethwa said.
The minister urged other police officers to show the same dedication and passion for fighting crime that the seven policemen had.
"In their memory we must, together, continue to improve our capacity to deliver a crushing blow to crime and those who commit it. This is our conviction, our purpose and a debt we profoundly owe to them. In their memory we must, together, as members of the Force, serve our society with dedication, humility and care," he added.
Deputy Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said the men were heroes to the people of South Africa because they died fighting crime.
He urged other police to follow the hard working example the "fallen heroes".
Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele described the day the men died as "Black Friday".
He said he had known most of the men well and that Zaayman had been the pilot who flew him to the World Cup in the same aircraft that had crashed.
Their deaths had created a huge vacuum within the SAPS as the men were part of an elite and highly trained unit, the Commissioner added.
Cele promised that the SAPS would provide support to the families of the slain men.
"We vow that this organisation will be a father to these children and this organisation will be a husband to these widows. We are not going to let you walk this road alone," he told the policemen's families.
The Commissioner also had strong words for policemen who were not showing the same dedication to their work that the seven policemen had displayed.
Cele said in the space of 24 hours 16 policemen had been arrested for various crimes. "Please rise and walk away from this organisation. You don't belong here," he told police officers who were contemplating a life of crime.
The Commissioner said the best tribute fellow police officers could pay to the seven policemen was to leave behind criminal tendencies and to dedicate themselves to the fight against crime.
