Soweto man killed, allegedly by police officer during alcohol dispute

Residents of Protea South Zone Seven in Soweto are fuming following the death of Simon Maluleke (54), allegedly at the hands of the police.

Simon was shot in the head, allegedly by a police officer stationed at the Protea Glen Police Station, and died instantly in his house on Sunday afternoon.

In their tiny living room, with a blood-soaked blanket still on the floor and blood stains spattered on the fridge, his daughter Nhlamulo Maluleke recounted the tragic events, which she says she witnessed, that led to her father’s death.

She says her father came back from Limpopo and, two hours later, police officers came to the house and said they wanted to search it.

“They heard that we are selling alcohol.

“The alcohol that was there was for my brother to drink; two cases and two bottles of beer that were already in the fridge.”

Nhlamulo says her father allowed the two police officers to enter and search the house. She was bathing in another room.

“At home, we have two fridges, the one in the kitchen and the other in my room. They first searched the one in the kitchen and found the two bottles of alcohol and then demanded to also search the one that’s in my room,” she explains.

She says she asked for a moment to finish bathing and get dressed so she could open for them to search the room.

While still in her room, Nhlamulo claims to have heard one of the police officers asking her father why he was being arrogant.

“My dad then suggested that they call the person who left the two alcohol cases in the house, which is my brother, but they insisted on rather taking my dad to the police station… He was refusing.

“I went out and asked one of the officers what would happen should I be the one to go with them to the police station.

“I further asked if they won’t take my fingerprints and they said no, but I would just have to pay an amount of R500 since they found alcohol in the house… I agreed and started preparing to leave with them.”

While Nhlamulo was preparing to leave, the situation allegedly escalated between one of the officers and her father.

“My dad stepped out of the house to call my brother to come back home.

“One of the police officers followed him and started spraying him with pepper spray [in] the face.

“He ran to our neighbour’s tap to wash his face, then returned to the house and went straight to his room.”

The police allegedly followed him to the house and continuously accused him of being arrogant. Simon kept telling the police officer that he was not selling alcohol and they should leave him alone.

Nhlamulo says when she was almost ready, she heard gunfire coming from the living room and the neighbour calling her father’s name.

“I immediately rushed out of my room and the police officer who [allegedly] shot my dad ran and stood outside.

“Fortunately, the community members had already heard me shouting for help and were ready to attack, so he couldn’t flee from the scene. Another police van arrived and escorted the police officer away from angry residents.”

Another witness, a community member, says he saw the police officer chasing Simon around his yard and spraying him with pepper spray.

“While I was still shocked by that, he ran into his house and the police officer followed him. I don’t know what happened inside the house but I heard gunfire,” says the witness, who does not want to be named.

After Simon was shot, angry residents went on a rampage and set the police van on fire. More police arrived to restore calm as the situation escalated into a violent protest.

“I am deeply saddened by what happened; there must be justice because my dad was innocent, he was not selling alcohol, he died because he refused to go with them to the police station,” says Nhlamulo.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate confirmed that it dispatched its investigator to the scene on Sunday and has launched an investigation into the matter.