Two men get life behind bars for killing cop News24 Wire Picture: iStock Besides the life sentences, the two men were also sentenced to an additional 47 years in prison. Two men have been handed life sentences for murdering a police officer in June 2017. Surprise Mokoebo, 27, and Thabang Maleka, 26, were sentenced on Friday for the murder of Constable Samuel Hlongwane of the Brits Tactical Response Team. Hlongwane, who was 35, was walking along Letlhabile main road when his friend, driving a BMW, stopped for a chat, said police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Funani. “They were still chatting when two unknown males confronted them and pointed firearms at them. The men shot the constable, who managed to return fire and shot one of them. The third man came in a getaway car, picked up the wounded suspect and dropped him at the Letlhabile clinic,” Funani said.