Police Minister, Bheki Cele, has called on the courts to mete out the harshest possible sentence to criminals who murder police officers.

This comes in the wake of the killing of yet another policeman in Port Edward, KwaZulu-Natal, at the weekend.

Cele and South African Police Service (SAPS) management, led by National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, will visit the family of the deceased warrant officer.

Police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said Warrant Officer Roger Mavundla, alongside three family members, including his 10-year-old daughter, was shot and killed when they were ambushed while travelling in their vehicle.

"According to police reports, on the 21st of January 2023, 49-year-old Warrant Officer Mavundla and his wife and children, aged between 17 and 10, were ambushed and shot at, while inside their vehicle. The officer, his wife and two children sustained fatal wounds and died on the scene, while a third child is being treated at a local hospital," she said.

Mathe said the visit to Port Edward will see the provincial SAPS brief the Police Ministry on the crime patterns in the policing area and interventions in place to deal with violent crime and other contact crimes. The visit will also include a comfort visit to the Mavundla family home.

A total of 22 SAPS members were killed betwee July and September 2022.