Police must protect, not kill
Protestors told Express they were moved and saddened by the death of Mthokozisi Ntumba from Kempton Park who was shot and killed during student fees protests in Braamfontein on March 10, allegedly by the police.
People recently took to the Kempton Park Police Station to deliver a memorandum. The protest was from the Kempton Park Civic Centre to the local police station to raise awareness and express their concerns regarding police brutality.
The protest was spearheaded by Thembinkosi (TK) Nciza, regional secretary of the ANC in Ekurhuleni, who explained to Express that the demonstration was to oppose police brutality.
“We don’t believe that there should be people who kill our police because they are law enforcement. At the same time, we don’t want police to take out their anger on innocent people,” said Nciza.
Protestors told Express they were moved and saddened by the death of Mthokozisi Ntumba from Kempton Park who was shot and killed during student fees protests in Braamfontein on March 10, allegedly by the police.
Four police officers have since been arrested in connection with Ntumba’s death and were recently released by the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on a bail of R8 000 each. The officers, Tshepiso Kekana, Motseothata Boitumelo, Victor Nkosinathi Mohamed and Madimeja Lekgodi, are from the Public Order Policing Unit.
“The officers are facing charges of murder, three counts of attempted murder and four counts of defeating the ends of justice,” said Ndileka Cola, Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) national spokesperson.
“The bail conditions are that they don’t threaten or contact the witnesses, they don’t visit the scene of the crime and they don’t apply for passports. The matter will be back in the same court on May 21.”
Among those present at the march was Lesiba Mpya, MMC for Human Settlements in Ekurhuleni.
“We are pleased with the arrests and happy with the level of movement in the case. We want justice to be served and call for strong and heavier measures against them,” said Mpya.
The memorandum handed over included:
“In our view, police brutality manifests itself in the situations such as protests driven by service delivery, reporting of gender-based violence, and a culture of corruption in the force,” the memorandum reads.
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It included the following demands:
• Proper training of police in crowd control and managing protests, especially service delivery protests.
• Proper training in dealing with cases of gender-based violence.
• Increase in the capacity of policing in communities.
•The Independent Police Investigating Directorate to investigate cases of police brutality speedily and efficiently and keep communities abreast of their work.
• An end to the harassing of small business owners in townships.
Acting station commander at Kempton Park Police Station Col Lesetja Manewa was present and addressed the masses gathered. Due to Covid-19 regulations, Manewa didn’t physically receive the memorandum but it was stated that an electronic copy would be sent. Manewa told Express on March 31 that he was unable to comment on the matter as it is a provincial case.
“I haven’t received the memorandum. I won’t be able to respond to the memorandum as it is a provincial matter and I can’t comment on a provincial matter, it is protocol,” said Manewa.
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