Cops shoot passenger by mistake
Officers unable to stop cars with suspects
ACASE of attempted murder has been opened against King William’s Town-based police officers who allegedly shot and injured a passenger travelling in a vehicle they suspected of being involved in a crime.
The shooting happened last Thursday afternoon near Breidbach.
A white VW Polo Vivo, with four passengers was shot at by armed officers. But on investigation, the officers realised they had shot at the wrong vehicle, as the suspected vehicle drove past the crime scene undetected.
The Independent Police Investigation Directorate (Ipid) spokesman, Moses Dlamini confirmed they were investigating a case of a shooting on the N2 in King William’s Town, and that no one had been arrested.
Brothers Hlalanathi and Mzubanzi Cakata were travelling with two elderly women passengers who they were giving a lift to from East London when they were shot at by police.
Hlanathi said as they approached the Breidbach pedestrian bridge, they saw a squad of heavily armed police officers on the Breidbach turn off.
“We thought it was a roadblock and we slowed down. The police shouted at us, saying we must stop the vehicle and we obeyed their command,” said Hlalanathi.
A few seconds after the vehicle stopped, the police started firing towards it.
“The minute we heard gunshots, we raised our hands. We were scared; one or two of the officers started firing at us and the vehicle,” said Hlalanathi.
A minute later they were dragged out of the vehicle and told to lie on the tarred road, face down.
“I was just waiting for that fatal shot. I didn’t know what was happening. One of the cops was kicking me,” said Hlalanathi.
Three or four of the bullets hit their vehicle, damaging the body panel before it hit an elderly woman, Cikizwa Mtshekisa, who was sitting in the back seat on the left hand side.
“I heard gunshots and police shouting. I noticed later that I was bleeding as I was shot in the left leg and right thigh. They dragged us out of that vehicle,” said Mtshekisa.
“I am in pain. I don’t know what happened, why they shot at us.”
Mtshekisa’s friend, Nombulelo Freddie, who was also a passenger in the vehicle, said the whole incident was traumatic.
“I could not believe how we survived that, how we managed to escape that alive,” said Freddie.
But Mzubanzi said they were not going to take the incident lying down.
“We are challenging the police. They refused to allow me call my relatives or take pictures after they realised that they had done something wrong.
“As they were busy with us, they saw the two vehicles they were looking for driving past. They could do nothing,” said Mzubanzi.
Mzubanzi said senior police officers came to investigate the shooting.
“Those are the only police officers who said ‘sorry’ to us,” he said.
The owner of the vehicle, Bongani Cakata, who is the older brother of the two men, said the police should have handled the matter better.
“There are other ways of handling this matter than shooting at people who have raised their hands, showing that they are not armed,” said Bongani.
Bongani said cartridges were swiftly removed from the scene.
“These officers tampered with a crime scene. We believe there are more cases we need to open against these cops.”
It is not clear if the police suspected the vehicle of any criminal activities as King William’s Town police spokeswoman, Captain Siphokazi Mawisa could not be reached for comment. —