Cop in court for protester's murder
2014-01-27 18:20
(Picture: Sapa)
Johannesburg - A policeman accused
of shooting dead a protester appeared briefly in the Roodepoort Magistrate's
Court on Monday.
The matter against the officer, who
cannot be named because an identity parade has not been conducted, was
postponed to Tuesday for a bail application.
He was among four police officers
arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a protester. He was the only
one who was charged with murder.
"After receiving the initial
factual report on the incident, it was decided that there is enough evidence to
arrest and charge the member who fired the shots, for murder as well as
defeating the ends [of justice] and the others for defeating the ends of
justice," said police spokesperson Neville Malila in a statement on
Friday.
Prosecutor Una van der Schyff said
on Monday the charges of defeating the ends of justice against three police
officers were being investigated.
Durban Deep residents in the
courtroom waiting for proceedings to get under way became impatient in the
morning.
Some confronted court staff in a
passage leading to the prosecutor's office and complained that they had arrived
early in the morning.
They were frustrated because the
docket was not ready.
Tshepo Babuseng, 28, was shot dead,
allegedly by a policeman, after protesting residents in Durban Deep,
Roodepoort, barricaded roads with stones and burning tyres on Thursday over a
lack of housing.
‘SAPS killed my son’
At the court on Monday, resident
Adam Welkom, known as "Express", shouted "the SAPS killed my
son. They must give me my son".
Welkom said he was fed up because he
had been waiting for a long time.
"Why can't they send the
minister here? Nathi [Mthethwa] must come here and give me my son," he
said.
Babuseng's aunt, Joyce Moamogwa,
said she was saddened by the loss of her nephew.
"I am hurt, I am not feeling
well," she said.
Moamogwa said police should be
trained as they could not do their job.
"We are not safe, we do not
trust them. They are like our enemies," she said.
In the morning, Durban Deep
community spokesperson Anton Mankgabe said bail should not be granted to the
police officers.
"If that happens, we will take
radical steps. We are prepared to be arrested again," Mankgabe said.
He said residents would embark on
more protests and make Roodepoort ungovernable.
Scores of people were protesting
outside the court earlier. Some of the protesters were wearing DA T-shirts.
They carried placards reading:
"Who is going to protect us if you kill us" and "Nathi Mthethwa
hold your dogs".
Another said: "You stupid
police you killed my sister's child like a dog. You must go back to
school."
- SAPA
