The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) took less than a week to arrest four police officers in connection with the murder of Mthokozisi Ntumba near Wits University last week. But seven months after nine-year-old Leo Williams died after being hit by a rubber bullet during a protest in Laingville, St Helena Bay, in July 2020, no SAPS member has been arrested.
Ntumba (35) was a bystander who was hit by a police rubber bullet after protesting students and police clashed in the streets of Johannesburg.
Students had called on Wits University to allow financially excluded students to register for the 2021 academic year.
were arrested on Monday in connection with the death of bystander
Mthokozisi Ntumba, who was killed, allegedly when the officers fired rubber bullets during the Wits protests.
Ntumba had just come out of a doctor’s consulting rooms as seen in an edited CCTV footage of the incident which was shared on social media. It showed the 35 year old running away as a police Nyala pulled up and a number of officers disembarked with their firearms drawn.
The police officers who were arrested in connection with the death of Mthokozisi Ntumba in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on 17 March 2021. Picture: Neil McCartney
Ntumba was shot dead when police were dispersing protesting students last week.
Watch the video above for more on this story.
The four police officers accused of killing Mthokozisi Ntumba have made their first appearance at the Johannesburg Magistrate s Court. Their bail application is set for 24 March #eNCA Courtesy #DStv403
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WATCH: Mthokozisi Ntumbaâs family, collegues gather at Tshwane House to pay last respects
By James Mahlokwane
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Pretoria - Colleagues from the Tshwane Department of Human Settlements paid their last respects to Mthokozisi Ntumba who lost his life as a bystander when police fired rubber bullets at protesting students in Braamfontein last week.
The City of Tshwane today hosted at Tshwane House a memorial service for the family and employees who worked with the married father of three, who served as a human settlement planner for the City.
An atmosphere of sadness, loss and void uncomfortably settled in on the colleagues who praised his work as he was tasked to formalise the informal settlements in Tshwane, including the popular Soshanguve Nkandla Informal Settlement, popularly known as Changing Spot.
Four police officers who made their first court appearance in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday in connection with Mthokozisi Ntumba’s death have been remanded and their bail application has been postponed to March 24.
Tshepiso Kekana, Cidraas Motseothata, Madimetja Legodi and Victor Mohammed, who are from the public order policing unit, were formally charged with murder, attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice after they were arrested by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate on Monday.
Ntumba (35) was shot and killed after he was caught in the crossfire during violent clashes between police and Wits University students in Braamfontein, last week, amid ongoing protests by students against the exclusion of academically deserving students who cannot register for this year because of outstanding fees.