Cops ‘threatened’ daughter of Emalahleni shooting victim

‘I asked them for help after they shot my mom’

The daughter of a woman who was killed during a protest in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, has told how a police officer told her they would shoot her just like her mother when she sought help.

Bongiwe Masheego, 24, was trying to get assistance for her mother Leah Lubisi, who was shot in the chest, allegedly by police, during a protest over lack of electricity and water in KwaGuqa.

“The roads were closed because of the protest. I felt so helpless because we weren’t even part of the protest, but I had to get help, so I ran after the same police [who allegedly shot my mother] and asked that they help us take my mother to hospital,” Masheego said.

“A male police officer said to me, ‘sizok’dubula nje ngomamakho.

Suka la (we will shoot you just like your mother. Get away from here)’.

“They accused my mother and I of being part of the protest. We had nothing to do with the protest.”

She said she and her mother were in a neighbour’s yard when protesters, who were being chased by police, ran into their street.

The protesting community members took to the streets, complaining that they had been without water and electricity for three weeks. They blockaded the N4 highway.

Masheego and her 31-yearold sibling, who is unemployed, now have to raise their mother’s 11-year-old last born.

“Why did they use live ammunition to shoot instead of rubber bullets,” an exasperated Masheego asked.

Their neighbour Zanele Mpanza said she heard a commotion while in her house but decided to stay put when suddenly two police officers came inside.

“One had a gun pointed at me, asking me to show them where the group of protesters where,” she said. “I told them to search the house if they wanted to and take out whoever they were looking for.

“The female police officer swore at me as they left.

“When I went outside, I found my neighbour had been shot.”

Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson Lizzy Suping said they were aware of the incident and a preliminary investigation would commence as soon as possible.

The protest took a violent turn when several shops were looted including a Pick n Pay liquor store, Pep and the Ackermans store, which was also burnt down.

A burned body of a man was discovered a day later by the owners of the store.

/PHOTOS/ANTONIO MUCHAVE Bongiwe Masheego, whose mother died in police fire. Charred remains of the local Ackermans and Pick'n Pay which were looted and burned during a community protest in KwaGuqa, Emalahleni.

Leah Lubisi was allegedly shot dead by police.