Doreen Mokgolo
Police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets at protesters outside the Tsakani Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, during the the bail application of seven Ekurhuleni metro police officers accused of murder.
One group travelled to the court in Ekurhuleni from KwaZulu-Natal in a convoy of colourful minibus taxis to demonstrate against the officers accused of killing Mcedisi Shabalala, who had come from a KZN village to Gauteng to look for work.
The group, armed with stones and knobkerries, clashed with security when they weren’t allowed into the courtroom.
Some of the female protesters stripped naked in their rage while others brought down the court’s security gate.
The stun grenades and rubber bullets used by the police did little to deter the protesters.
Meanwhile, the state attorney told the court that the post-mortem results of Mcedisi Shabalala indicated that he had died from multiple injuries.
Speaking on the witness stand, accused number one told the court that they had received a tip-off from one of their informants that illegal firearms and narcotics were kept in the shack.
“Two of the four occupants managed to run out of the shack, one holding a firearm.
“One of the officials fired warning shots at one of the suspects who was shot in his left leg. A 45-calibre pistol was found on him,” he told the court.
The court was adjourned and the case was postponed for 27, 28 and 29 September for the scheduled six bail applications, before the cross-questioning of accused number one.
The seven suspects have been remanded at Brakpan Police Station.
The officers are facing charges of murder, attempted murder, assault, GBH and defeating the ends of justice.
Last Thursday night, the five constables and two inspectors invaded a shack in Langaville where a group of four cousins were sleeping.
They allegedly pushed into the shack, armed with firearms, and assaulted the four men.
Two men, Shabalala and Zenzele Mgaga, managed to run out of the shack.
Mgaga was shot twice and rushed to hospital but Shabalala was allegedly assaulted, strangled with a washing line wire and shot, before his body was dumped behind a shack in the yard.
Nomsa Nkosa told Scrolla.Africa that all they want to know is why the accused killed her cousin.
“They were not armed, meaning that they were harmless to the police officers who were heavily armed.
“They should have arrested them if there was a need, not kill them,” she said.
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