FAMILY POINTS FINGER AT COPS
They aim to sue police, have officers charged
Brutal slaying of taxi boss in police cell raises red flag
The family of the taxi owner who was shot dead in a Mthatha police cell last week, allege that crooked police may have had a hand in the brutal slaying.
Simphiwe Maqungo, 38, who owned a fleet of taxis in Cape Town, had cheated death several times after being attacked, both in the Western Cape and in his home village of Lahlangubo in Ngcobo.
Maqungo was arrested and was being held in custody at the Ngangelizwe police station for possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and was due to appear in the Ngcobo magistrate’s court for a formal bail hearing.
He was shot dead 30 minutes after midnight last Monday, just hours before he was due in court, by a brazen group of masked gunmen who stormed the police station and shot him repeatedly at close range.
The family, speaking after seeing his body during the postmortem held at the forensic pathology unit in Mthatha, said the shooters made quite sure that he was dead. “We counted 12 bullet holes in his head, chest and abdomen,” said his brother Siyabulela. “They used both pistols and rifles.
“The police have a hand in his death, that we do not doubt.
“We have met a police delegation, but we are not happy about the information we received from them. Crooked police officers were paid to sell out my brother,” he said.
The family said they were consulting lawyers and would sue the police and ensure criminal charges were laid against the police officers involved.
Siyabulela said his brother was previously attacked at his home in Lahlangubo by four gunmen, but escaped injury.
The attackers ran away after Maqungo shot back.
He said “strangely” a large contingent of police officers, some wearing balaclavas, ransacked his brother’s house the next day and arrested him.
Last week, national police commissioner General Khehla Sithole condemned Maqungo’s killing.
On Sunday, national police spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili said a multidisciplinary team was investigating the murder.
Maqungo will be buried on Saturday at Lahlangubo.