A 30 year old police Constable was on Monday, 22 August 2011 arrested by the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) following the shooting and subsequent death of a 24 year old male. The suspect officer is stationed at Viljoenskroon South African Police Service (SAPS).
The allegations are that on 15 August 2011, five armed men robbed a Pakistani-owned City Mini-Hyper shop where they made out with loot amounting to R3 000.00, cigarettes and airtime vouchers. A Pakistani national was stabbed on the back with a knife. Police were alerted to the incident and immediately rushed to the scene where they were given a description of the suspected robbers.
It is alleged that the police went about a search for the suspect robbers within the vicinity. They allegedly spotted a suspicious-looking five males standing at a street corner. They stopped the car and called the men over but three of the men ran off on foot. One police officer gave chase and fired a shot that hit a 24 year old male. An ambulance was called to the scene and the injured man was taken to Pax Clinic where he died on arrival.
The ICD was notified of the incident and investigators went to the scene. The matter was taken over for further investigation. The post-mortem was conducted on 17 August 2011 and the cause of death was determined as a gunshot to the abdomen. The ICD arrested the suspect officer on Monday, 22 August 2011 and he will appear at the Viljoenskroon Periodical Court on Thursday, 24 August 2011 where a charge of murder will formally be laid against him. The identity of the officer cannot be released until he appears in court.
Enquiries:
Moses Dlamini
Cell: 082 809 1927
E-mail: mdlamini@icd.gov.za
