Cop accused of brutal assault

Victim pistol whipped in clash over ice cubes

Former Mpumalanga police spokesman Brigadier Selvy Mohlala allegedly pistol-whipping a 30-year-old man until he lost consciousness after an argument over ice cubes at a tombstone unveiling.

Thato Masilela, from Kgobokwane outside Siyabuswa in Mpumalanga, laid a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm against Mohlala at the Siyabuswa police station.

Masilela, who was admitted at the Philadelphia Hospital in Dennilton, needed several stitches after he sustained a gaping wound to his head.

Mpumalanga police spokesman Brigadier Leonard Hlathi confirmed a case had been opened against Mohlala.

“Statements were obtained and the docket has been referred to the director of public prosecutions for a decision,” Hlathi said.

Masilela told Sowetan the incident happened near his grandmother’s house in Oorlig village last month after a tombstone unveiling ceremony.

“Mohlala came to our tombstone unveiling uninvited and started a fight with me and my friends over ice cubes,” Masilela said.

He said Mohlala “wrongfully” accused him and his friends of helping themselves to his ice cubes as they were all chilling and drinking in the same tent.

“We gave him all the ice cubes we had on us even though we had bought them ourselves – but as we left, Mohlala followed our car in his BMW X5 and started a fight with my friends about 400 metres from my grandmother’s house,” he said.

When Masilela intervened in an attempt to stop the fight, Mohlala allegedly turned on him.

“He pulled out his service pistol, cocked it and pointed it at me, and then started hitting me with it on the head until I collapsed and woke up in hospital,” he said.

Masilela suffered an open wound and a swollen head and chin.

“I felt that Mohlala abused his power and unnecessarily used his service pistol to assault me,” he said.

Mohlala, who is now in charge of internal communications at the SAPS head office in Pretoria, said: “It would

‘‘ Mohlala came to our tombstone unveiling uninvited and started a fight

be difficult for me to comment at the moment. Obviously, the case has been opened and is under investigation, so there’s nothing I can say about it.”

/ AFP PHOTO Toyota driver Giniel de Villiers of South Africa and his co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz of Germany compete during Stage 7 of the 2018 Dakar Rally in Bolivia on Saturday. After Stage 7, the pair are fourth while Frenchman Carlos Sainz of Peugeot is in the lead.

Thato Masilela says he was assaulted by a top cop.

Thato Masilela’s wounds.