Former Croftdene cop killed by fellow officer

The family of a Croftdene colonel has been grieving the loss of their loved one after he was allegedly shot and killed by a fellow police officer in a case that has sparked social media controversy.

Despite his life in Nelspruit where he was flourishing after recently being promoted to brigadier and acting head of crime prevention of his station, Col Selvanathan Thaver kept strong ties with his family in Chatsworth, according to his younger brother, Devan Thaver.

“He was a police officer for the past 35 years and started in Randfontein. There’s nothing bad to say about him, he was a people’s person. He was humble, did not drink or smoke, and was very family-orientated. He loved fishing and would come and live with us when he occasionally came down to fish. He last came down to Durban in September and made plans to spend Easter with us,” explained Devan.

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The 45-year-old added that Col Thaver was dedicated to his work with no time for nonsense. “He was the type of person to solve issues instead of fighting and did not exploit his position as a high-ranking officer. My brother was plain and simple,” he said.

Police spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Brig Selvy Mohlala, explained that it is believed that Sgt Patrick Ngwenyama shot Thaver before turning the gun on himself.

“We do not know the motive for the killing but, we are investigating further. The officers had gone to work n the morning as usual. At about 7:50am, they heard gunshots and found Thaver and Ngwenyama lying on the ground,” said Brig Mohlala.

Both policemen were attached to the Protection and Security Services. “His job killed him and we are taking it badly. It is just shocking. We cannot even get justice for his murder because the person that killed him, killed himself as well. Nevertheless, we want to know exactly what happened,” Devan continued.

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Col Thaver’s 74-year-old mother said that she is deeply disturbed and traumatised by his death. Following news of this incident, social media users made their opinions heard, with a few chosen below from Twitter.

The mostly negative comments have only added to the woes of the grief-stricken family, who claim that social media houses racists.

“He was not like that. Of course, the comments hurt us. There is a lot of racial tension on social media. My brother was not a bully. None of these people know him and if they did, they would realise how wrong they are,” Devan concluded.

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