‘I wanted to fight back’: Student beaten for jumping a gate at Res

A Johannesburg college student is still recovering after allegedly receiving two beatings in a row.

Mfundo Maseko alleged he was assaulted earlier this month by a security guard, and then later by police, when he got home late to his Gondeni accommodation.

A case of assault has been opened against both the guard and the two police officers.

Student assaulted for jumping gate

The alleged assault happened on 8 June, when Maseko returned home at 3am and was refused entry by the security guard.

After waiting for an hour, he jumped the gate. He told The Citizen he did this because he feared for his safety.

“When I got inside, the security guard came up to me and started assaulting me. After hitting me, he then ran to hide. The building manager then appeared and asked the whereabouts of his brother who had hit me with a stick until it broke,” Maseko explained.

He said he argued with the building manager until police arrived.

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The manager, who asked to be identified as Mukhethwa, told The Citizen he called the police after he heard a ruckus outside.

He said he’d heard Maseko banging the gate. Security allegedly told him the person refused to identify himself and so they were afraid to open.

The manager went to check and realised it was Maseko.

He allegedly asked him why he was making a noise, to which the student replied that the security was refusing to open for him and he had been outside for an hour.

“I went back to them (the security) to tell them to open for him because he is one of our students who stays with us,” said Mukhethwa.

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Assuming that he had resolved the issue, Mukhethwa went back to bed. However, he heard a noise close to his door and found the student and a security guard fighting.

“When I asked them why they were fighting, the guard said Mfundo jumped the gate when he went downstairs [to open for him].

“The guard said he met Maseko by the stairs and the student dragged him by his clothes. The guard said he only pushed Maseko away from him. Maseko fell back and hit his mouth on a desk.”

Mukhethwa said he tried to mediate by hiding the guard and calling the police, a claim disputed by Maseko.

Mukhethwa said he did not want the student arrested, only for them to mediate the situation.

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Police assault

When the police arrived, it was alleged that Maseko said he wasn’t scared of them. He was allegedly taken by officers to an unknown area away from the residence and assaulted.

Police confirmed a case of assault had been opened and is under investigation, but could not comment on any alleged assault by officers.

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Broken furniture and trauma

The security guard has since been dismissed and Mukhethwa has demanded R1500 from Maseko for damaging his furniture.

Maseko said he had not damaged the furniture on purpose and the only reason the desk was broken was because he had fallen on top of it after being pushed by the guard.

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Maseko said he was frustrated at only being able to open a case with police after several days of back-and-forth. He added that he was pained by the incident.

“I was stressed and not thinking straight. I was also very angry. I wanted to fight back but my friend told me to relax and go open a case,” he added.

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Maseko added the experience had affected his academics as he was writing exams at the time.

“I did not study well because I was in pain and my eyes were still painful because of pepper spray.”