Man killed after Mochudi police chase

Sharon Mathala | Wednesday August 19, 2015 16:37

 

Suspicious family members yesterday told Mmegi that they believed the police had killed their relative Tumisang Ntshabele, an accusation police have dismissed preferring to focus on the ongoing investigation into his death.

Ntshabele was certified dead upon arrival at hospital on Saturday morning.

A Mmegi news crew that visited Mochudi yesterday found distraught family members busy with preparations for the young man’s funeral.

A woman who identified herself as the deceased’s aunt, but chose to speak on condition of anonymity, said the police had woken the family up around 2am on Saturday morning.

“When we opened the door, there were three police officers and six of Tumisang’s friends. I know them because I always see them together. For a while, the police did not say anything to us but kept arguing with the boys,” the woman said as she sniffed back  tears.

She said the officers then informed them that a senior officer would speak to them.

 “They told us they were waiting for their senior and when he arrived, he told us that Tumisang had died after he was hit by a police car. This senior asked us to go and identify Tumisang’s body. I remained behind while the deceased’s mother, grandmother and a neighbour left with the police. They confirmed that it was him. On Sunday, the police returned at around 5pm and told us that the station commander would meet us on Monday,” she said.

The aunt said that on Monday, the station commander met with the family and informed them that investigations into the matter had commenced.

“He told us that he had no other information to give to us and that a post-mortem would be conducted to determine cause of death,” she said. The woman added that police had shown the family statements made by the security officers at the mall as well as police officers on duty, recorded on the night of the incident.

Mochudi Police Station commander Superintendent Simon Sitale said police were investigating Ntshabele’s death as well as the initial report into what appears to be an attempted break-in. “We received a report from security officers stationed at the mall and when my officers went there, they reported that there was a suspicious gang lurking around the area.  “My officers went to attend to the men and the gang ran away. Police chased after them and during the pursuit, one of the men died,” he said. Sitale could not confirm whether the man had died as a result of being hit by the police’s Toyota Hilux truck.

“At this point we do not know if the car hit him or if he hit the car. We have since arrested three men in relation to both incidents,” he said. Eyewitnesses claimed that the deceased and his friends had been urinating near the mall when they became involved in an altercation with security guards. The witnesses told Mmegi that police appeared ‘from nowhere’ and began pursuing the group of friends.