Two Alice policemen charged
with murder
By ZWANGA MUKHUTHU on
August 14, 2013
AN ALICE family is desperately seeking answers following the death of a
20-year-old relative in police custody on Sunday afternoon.
Police constables Ntsikayesizwe Dlepu, 29, and Masixole Bushula, 32,
have been arrested and face murder and attempted murder charges.
FACING THE LAW: Constable Ntsikayesizwe Dlepu, left, covers his face as
he is led out of the Alice Magistrate’s Court. Constable Masixole Bushula was
also arrested after a probe by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate
Pictures: MARK ANDREWS
They were not asked to plead and the matter was postponed to August 15
for a formal bail application. The pair were held in custody.
Bathandwa Kula died shortly after being taken to the Alice police
station for questioning over a housebreaking incident that occurred at the home
of his grandmother, Nofirst Makinana, last Wednesday night.
Items stolen from her house and not recovered include a PlayStation game
and five DVD speakers.
Nokhaya Kula cried bitterly when she spoke of her grandson’s
last moments. She said she attempted to get answers surrounding Bathandwa’s
death.
Police woke her on Sunday night to inform her of his death and she has
not slept since.
“On Monday I went to the police station and asked to speak to the
responsible policemen but the station commander refused.
“I wanted to ask them what they did to my child and if they were happy
with what has happened,” she said.
Alice police investigating the housebreaking last week suspected Kula
was involved and he was taken in for questioning on Sunday afternoon.
A spokesman from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate
(Ipid), Moses Dlamini, said on Monday the constables were arrested after an
investigation by the Ipid team.
It is alleged Kula was not detained but taken to the detectives’ offices
where he was assaulted until unconscious.
“He was rushed to Victoria Hospital in a police van where he was
declared dead on arrival,” said Dlamini.
State prosecutor Lizo Gwentshe told Alice magistrate Brendan Vogel that
the state would allege that the accused had severely assaulted Kula and
suffocated him with a plastic bag.
Lawyers representing the constables requested their clients be detained
at the Middledrift police holding cells instead of the Middledrift prison for
safety reasons. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
