Motorist murder: Cop charged
21/07/2005 07:25 - (SA)
Elise Tempelhoff
Vanderbijlpark - A policewoman has been charged with murder after a motorist was shot and killed in Vereeniging last Friday.
Superintendent Maria Mazibuko, spokesperson for the police in the Vaal Triangle, confirmed on Wednesday that Hennie Olivier, 45, an electrical contractor from Vereeniging, died on the same day that the policewoman had allegedly shot him following an argument.
Mazibuko said that a docket had been opened and sent to the state prosecutor.
Olivier was shot in the elbow and stomach early on Friday morning. He was operated on at Sebokeng Hospital, but died later that afternoon.
Hannes Swart of Vereeniging said on Wednesday that he and his wife, Elise, had witnessed the shooting and that they were "extremely shocked" about Olivier's death.
Shooting
Olivier had spoken to Swart shortly after the shooting and given his version of what had happened.
Olivier told Swart that the police had forced him off the road because a light on his vehicle was not working properly.
Swart said he and his wife were on their way to work at about 05:45 on Friday when they saw two police officers and a motorist arguing.
They had stopped at a traffic light at the corner of Rhodes Avenue and Union Street in the city, where they recognised their colleague Olivier.
"The police vehicle and Hennie's car were on the opposite side of the road. We wondered what was going on.
"The next moment a policewoman pulled out a firearm and fired. We just saw puffs of smoke."
Swart said he then drove across the intersection and stopped his car next to Olivier's. He and his wife both jumped out to help Olivier.
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"I asked Hennie if he was all right. He said he wasn't, and that he'd been shot. But he was still standing upright."
Vehicle
The policewoman meanwhile got into the police vehicle.
"I tried to persuade Hennie to lie down on the pavement so that I could examine him, because there was no visible wound.
"He lay down later and I saw the wound just below his rib cage. He told me he was scared he was going to die.
"I tried to reassure him and said I would visit him in hospital on Saturday, and then we would have a good laugh about the incident."
