Newzroom Afrika’s Mpumalanga-based journalist Mweli Masilela (35) is suing national Police Minister Bheki Cele for R9 million after he was shot in the cheek while covering a taxi owners’ march.
Public violence police shot Masilela with a rubber bullet on June 29 2020 when he was covering the taxi owners’ protest against Covid-19 regulations that prohibited full capacity loading of commuters, at KaNyamazane township near Mbombela.
According to papers filed in the Pretoria High Court, the journalist was clearly visible to the police contingent, but they fired indiscriminately after he had interviewed the taxi owners.
Masilela was filming the police as they were approaching the taxi owners, who had blockaded the road, when he was shot with a rubber bullet.
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Policeman, suspect arrested after cash-in-transit in Mpumalanga
By IOL Reporter
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Johannesburg - Mpumalanga police have arrested a police constable and a suspect in connection with a cash-in-transit heist which took place near KaNyamazane recently.
Police said a group of armed suspects accosted and disarmed three security guards who were replenishing ATMs in the Moutse West area on Monday, February 1.
The suspects used explosives to blow up the truck’s safe and fled the scene in a Mercedes Benz, Audi Q3, and an Audi A4, with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said police made a breakthrough when they arrested a 38-year-old police constable linked to the suspects.
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As of Monday, 09 February 2021, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases is 1,477,511 with 1,376 new cases identified, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has confirmed.
183 more Covid-19 related deaths were reported. This brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 46,473.
The suspects are linked to the torching of a lodge in January.
It is alleged roads leading to the lodge were blocked before the attack.
Investigations linked the three suspects, who will appear in court on Tuesday, to the attack.
Three suspects linked to the attack on Bongani Mountain Game Lodge in the Mthethomusha Game Reserve, Mpumalanga, will appear in the Kanyamazane Magistrate s Court, facing charges of arson and the possession of stolen goods.
The suspects, aged between 28 and 37, were arrested for allegedly attacking the lodge on 31 January.
It was alleged on the day, a group of people driving in a white SUV alighted at the lodge s entrance after having blocked the road leading to it with rubble, including stones and tree branches, police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said in a statement on Monday.