eMZINONI – Men dressed in camouflage fired off random shots atop a moving municipal fire truck in what appears to have been a funeral procession in eMzinoni on 23 March.
A short clip from a longer video of this procession has surfaced on social media and shows marchers with ANC banners leading the procession, followed by several traffic department vehicles and a fire truck of the Govan Mbeki Municipality (GMM). The hearse was however, not seen in the footage.
Men dressed as soldiers can be seen among the front runners and atop the fire truck.
A handgun can be seen being shot off into the air.
Multiple bullets were fired up into the sky.
In the complete video, of which Ridge Times has a copy, a rain of gunshots can be heard as the fire truck is being escorted by traffic officials.
https://www.facebook.com/echoridgenewspapers/videos/690521211403313/
At one point in the video, a police van can also be seen waiting for the procession to pass on the main road through eMzinoni and past Milan Park towards the Bethal graveyard.
The funeral was that of a late traffic official, Mr MG Shabangu.
A memorial service was held in the Bethal Town Hall on Wednesday, 20 March.
Mr Jaap Pretorius, Community Policing Forum Chairman (CPF) of Bethal, said the video was recently brought to his attention.
Scores of spent bullet casings were picked up afterwards and given to Mr Pretorius who handed the casings in at the Bethal Police Station.
“Firing a gun in a crowded area, and worse – into the air, is criminal and illegal.
“It is completely unacceptable and extremely dangerous,” said Mr Pretorius.
Mr Benzi Soko, chief of staff in the office of the GMM’s executive mayor and also the acting spokesman of GMM, said the municipality condemns in the strongest possible terms, the misuse of any of the municipality’s property and facilities.
He confirmed that the municipal Fire and Rescue Services took part in the funeral procession of Mr Shabangu who was employed in 2005 as a firefighter.
He was transferred to Traffic Services in 2010 during which he worked as a traffic officer deployed at Bethal and Emzinoni.
“In the fire services, it is a common practice to have a fire engine leading a funeral convoy for the deceased firefighter from the church service to the cemetery.
“Since Mr Shabangu once served as a dedicated firefighter, the service felt the need to honour him likewise.”
Mr Soko said the presence of a fire engine on the day in question was merely a brotherhood token of support to a fallen hero who was once a member of the firefighting family.”
Mr Soko added that at no stage was the fire officer in charge on that day given permission to use the fire engine to transport the camouflage-wearing people, and neither are they accountable for these people’s conduct.
Mr Soko said in a press statement that all municipal employees should respect their tools of the trade which remain the property of the municipality.
“In order to curb any misconduct, the municipality has adopted a zero-tolerance towards all kinds of misconduct.
“We have beefed up our Industrial Relations Unit in order to increase organisational discipline and good conduct,” said Mr Soko.
Ms Marietjie Fourie, DA Ward councillor of Bethal, said she was aware of the video.
“The DA caucus is currently deciding what cause of action should be taken. I did not want to circulate the video before I could establish what happened and what the circumstances were.”
Ms Fourie said it can be debated if GMM property can be used like this for an employee’s funeral, but there is no doubt about the illegal and life-threatening firing of a firearm within municipal boundaries.
“Firing shots within municipal boundaries is illegal – finish en klaar!”
She said caucus discussions are strictly confidential and can only be released once approved by caucus.
