Everson Luhanga
The family of Mthokozisi Ntumba expressed their disappointment after the four police officers standing trial for his murder were found not guilty on Tuesday.
The officers were arrested in 2021 during the violent Fees Must Fall protest when Wits students took to the streets in demonstration against non-registration due to historical debt.
Ntumba, 35, had been visiting his doctor for a routine check-up. As he left the doctor’s rooms, he was caught up in the chaos and was shot dead at the scene.
Married and the father of four children, he had just completed his master’s degree and worked in the Department of Human Settlements.
Dr. Tebogo Sedibe, the doctor who tried to help him at the time of the shooting, and later testified at the trial, told Scrolla.Africa in an interview that Mthokozisi had a bullet hole in his upper body.
All four officers have been found not guilty of his murder and all the charges against them have been dropped.
Police officers Tshephisho Kekana, 27, Cidraas Motseothatha, 43, Madimetja Legodi, 37, and Victor Mohammed, 51, had been facing charges of murder and attempted murder.
On Tuesday, the Gauteng High court in Johannesburg cleared the men of all wrongdoing, with Judge Mawabo Malangeni telling the court that no evidence could be found that linked them to Ntumba’s shooting.
Video footage of the killing was submitted to the court as evidence, but prosecutors could not prove that the suspects in the video were the men standing trial.
Ntumba’s family said they were not surprised by the judgment as they believed from the beginning of the case that the police officers had been protected by their colleagues.
His brother Ayanda Ntumba said it has been the most difficult time since Ntumba died. “The case dragged on too long. The court proceedings were tiring, emotionally, and financially draining.
“We always had to go to attend the court only to be told the court has been postponed to a further date.
“At one point, it became too expensive for us to be travelling to court. We didn’t attend all the proceedings because of that,” he said.
When the judgment was made, no family members of the slain Ntumba were present in the court gallery.
Gauteng National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said she could not confirm whether they would appeal the decision.
