Crimes of the South African Police Service

Police involved in another controversial killing

POLICE actions have come into the spotlight again with the gunning down of a Mamelodi man who was dedicated to turning around the lives of drug addicts. S’khumbuzo Jele, 35, founder of the Second Chance Recovery Centre, which treats nyaope addicts, was shot dead by a police officer, who may have mistaken him for a hijacker. His mother, Nomonde Mnguni, said Jele had been on his way to meet his cousin, Xolani Jele, who was waiting for him in a car outside the centre in Mamelodi East when he was shot in the chest. Police officers in the area said afterwards they had been chasing two suspects who had tried to hijack a car, and had then run onto the Second Chance Recovery Centre premises as Jele approached the gate. Mnguni heard gunshots and ran out to see her son lying at the gate. He was dead. Fighting back tears, Mnguni said she had mixed feelings towards the officer responsible for her son’s death. “He had a very good relationship with the police. They were combating crime together in the area and they often came by the centre during patrols,” she said. The good work done by Jele would continue, she said. During his memorial service at the Mamelodi West Community Centre yesterday, family and friends described him as “a man who did not wait for things to happen but instead made things happen”. A hall packed with about 500 community members praised his memory with song and dance while his wife Florence and daughter Noxolo, 8, sat huddled closely together. “Everything will go back to normal at the centre on Monday. It is what S’khumbuzo (Jele) would have wanted,” said Mnguni. Jele started the centre in May 2011 after the number of nyaope addicts skyrocketed in the area. He decided to engage patients at the centre with activities like skills development and aerobics, to name but a few. The centre, a nonprofit organisation, gets referrals from schools, churches, police stations and the community. Mnguni said she gave up her full-time work in the medical industry to help her son manage the centre. The centre employed 12 staff members, including a doctor, social worker and nurses, who receive no salaries as the centre is not guaranteed a stable income. Back at the centre, Jele’s good friend and handyman Reguel Malaka stood in the driveway where Jele was shot and said everyone at the centre was still coming to terms with his death. “It was around 8.30pm when I heard a gunshot. I thought it was outside on the road but then heard S’khumbuzo’s mother screaming. When I got outside, he was already dead,” he said. Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesman Moses Dlamini said the matter had been reported and they were looking into it. By Yolande Du Preez The Star 04/04/13 Early Edition