Four police officers were arrested on Monday in connection with the death of Mthokozisi Ntumba, who was shot dead on the sidelines of student protests in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, last week.
His death sparked a further outpouring of anger, and resulted in widespread criticism of both the South African Police Service and Bheki Cele.
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Facing multiple charges
At the moment, very little can be said about the police officers: however, their charge sheet has multiple charges. According to Ndileka Cola, IPID spokesperson, who spoke to Kaya Breakfast on Tuesday morning 16thof March, they will be appearing in front of a judge this week.
Listen to the full conversation here:
“These are police officers from the public order policing, and these officers are facing various charges, these charges include murder, three counts of attempted murder, as well as defeating the ends of justice and will be appearing at the Joburg Magistrate Court.” Ndileka Cola, IPID spokesperson
The four police officer failed to report incident
She also added that the police officers failed to report the incident to their commanders, which by law is a requirement by the IPID Act. Investigators were reliant on public accounts and media footage to know that this incident happened and that the police were involved.
Why all four police officers are arrested?
Cola explained that all four police officers are being arrested and not just the one who pulled the trigger that led to the unfortunate passing of former Wits student Mthokozisi Ntumba.
“In that scene or footage, which was on Wednesday, 10thof March, it’s not only murder, there are various shots that were fired. It’s not only the one that allegedly murdered Mthokozisi that was fired. There are other people that are injured and others are still in the hospital.”
