The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma, has assured the community that if police members are involved in criminality, they will be dealt with harshly according to the prescripts of the law. The statement by General Zuma spirals from pictures circulating on social media of a man seen lying in the bushes shot and injured, an incident which is currently under intense scrutiny.
According to information, on 18 July 2020, the said victim, who has since been identified, was asleep at his house in Kwamhlanga when he was awoken by unknown people who identified themselves as police officers. When he opened the door, the victim was severely assaulted and in the process questioned about a stolen police firearm.
These men then shoved the victim into the boot of their car and drove with him to nearby bushes where they further assaulted and shot him, tied him with cable ties before abandoning him. The victim managed to crawl his way out up until he was found by a passer-by who then notified the police.
As a result of this incident, it was widely speculated on social media platforms that police were involved in this brutal incident. It also surfaced that the very same men, had earlier kidnapped, assaulted as well as robbed cellphones belonging to two women they had an encounter with prior to attacking the male victim. In all these instances, police opened cases accordingly and IPID will carry out the investigations.
General Zuma has strongly condemned this incident and called for calm, he indicated that the law will take its course. “I want to assure the public that this matter will definitely receive the necessary attention and should it happen that indeed our members were involved, they will face the full might of the law. Police are expected to uphold the law and not threaten community members or put their lives in precarious position. What happened to these victims is shocking, let alone the alleged involvement of police members,” said General Zuma.
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