Police use rubber bullets on court crowd

THERE were chaotic scenes outside the Witbank Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga yesterday when a crowd protested and tried to kill traditional healer Thokozani Msibi shortly after he appeared in connection with the kidnapping and murder of two children.

Police were forced to fire rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, which resulted in a stampede. Some of the protesters threw rocks and other objects at the police.

Street vendors ran for cover and shops were immediately closed.

It was not clear how many people were injured, but witnesses saw a man with two open head wounds, while a woman, who identified herself as Dorah Mkhondo, also sustained several facial injuries.

Mkhondo said she was walking to the taxi rank near the court on her way to work when a crowd of people ran towards her. She fell and was trampled.

“I did not know there were people protesting here. I lost my cellphone when I fell. My body is full of pain,” she said.

The police could not be reached for comment.

Msibi, 32, appeared for a formal bail application and his lawyer, Zamo Sibisi, asked the court to give his client more time to prepare for the application.

The court granted the request and postponed the matter to March 6.

Gabisile Shabane, a 14-year-old with albanism, and 15-month-old Nkosikhona Ngwenya were kidnapped in Hlalanikahle on January 28, allegedly by three men who entered their home after breaking a window.

Gabisile’s body was discovered in Cullinan, to the east of Pretoria, and Nkosikhona’s was found on the side of the N4 highway earlier this week, said Mpumalanga provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi. – African News Agency (ANA)