Amnesty calls for action after cops kill 3 at home

Fatal shootings in Dutywa, Qumbu and Mthatha all provoked, SAPS says

These are the facts: police have shot dead three Eastern Cape residents in their own homes in separate incidents in five days.

The fatal shootings occurred in Dutywa, Qumbu and Mthatha on Monday, Wednesday and Friday last week.

The exact circumstances around each shooting are less clear, and will only be properly established once the Independent Police Investigations Directorate (Ipid) concludes its investigations.

Police claim in each case they retaliated after being attacked first. Grieving families of those shot by police want answers, while human rights organisations are deeply concerned that officers have adopted a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ approach.

The families have accused police of preventing them from seeing their loved ones before they died in hospital, and are asking provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Liziwe Ntshinga, safety & liaison MEC

Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe, Bhisho and police minister Bheki Cele to account for why police were deployed to kill these people in their own homes.

Siyabonga Ndinisa, 37, a taxi owner operating in Dutywa, was killed at his home at KuJadezweni village near Dutywa at about 9pm Monday.

Zolile Cina, 42, was killed at Lower Tyirha’s Ndakeni KaXholo in Qumbu on Wednesday. Mncedisi Zide, 76, a Methodist Church lay preacher, was killed at Mpafana village near Mthatha on Friday.

The shootings of Ndinisa, Cina and Zide occurred during police raids on their homes.

Amnesty International SA spokesperson Mienke Steytler has called for swift action.

“The deaths of the three men reportedly shot in Mthatha, Dutywa and Qumbu must be investigated by Ipid without delay. The investigations must be transparent and the outcomes must be available to the public. Any life, whether one person or three, is important and the deaths should all be properly investigated,” she said.

Ipid spokesperson Ndileka Cola confirmed all the three killings were being investigated by the directorate.

Ndinisa’s mother Nokholisa Ndinisa, 66, and father Khuzile, 77, described their son’s last words to the Dispatch.

“Mommy and daddy, I am dying. I am dying having done nothing wrong, I don’t know why the police killed me. Daddy and mommy, I am dying, I have done nothing wrong,” he told them as he lay in a pool of his own blood on Monday night.

The couple said they had been sleeping in another house on the property when they heard two big “bangs” and went to investigate. Then they saw police officers armed with rifles.

“I came across people with long firearms. My wife and I were sent out of the yard. The people wore balaclavas and said that they were police,” Khuzile said.

“I saw my son on the floor naked. When he heard my voice and that of his mother he told us he was dying. He said that he was cold and we must ask the police to take him inside the house and put a blanket on him. But the police chased us away. I was being chased out of my own homestead. You cannot expect such treatment from police officers. You cannot have police members acting like thugs.”

Ndinisa’s uncle, Mkhuseli Ndinisa, said when he asked to take his nephew to hospital in his minibus taxi he was not allowed to.

“I phoned my friend in Dutywa to call an ambulance. When it arrived, he was already dead,” Mkhuseli said.

Khuzile said they were only allowed back to the scene when the hearse arrived.

“They killed my son and only called us after they made sure he was dead. They only called us to load him into the hearse. They did not allow us to take him to hospital when he was still alive. The police are so cruel. They are trigger-happy and have no regard for human life.”

Ipid told the Dispatch earlier this week that in the cases of

Cina and Zide, police had been attacked with an axe and were shot at. Both men died in a hail of bullets in full view of their wives and children.

Responding to queries on Ndinisa’s killing, directorate spokesperson Cola said: “As alleged, police arrived at the deceased’s place of residence. The deceased started shooting at the police and one police officer was seriously wounded and transported to the hospital.

“It is alleged that the police returned fire and the deceased was also wounded and an ambulance called. Emergency officials declared him dead on the scene.”