Mob brutally attack SAPS officers

BURGERSFORT – A female police officer was dragged to the ground and kicked by angry community members at the Burgersfort’s Regional Court on Monday.

Her colleagues also came under attack from the angry group outside the court. The court was expected to hear the case of murdered teacher, Precious Magabane on Monday.

The court indicated that the case was scheduled to be postponed to September 9, as there was no interpreter for one of the foreign suspects arrested in the case.

It seemed the mob was angered by this decision when they started hurling vulgar words at some of the SAPS officials. Chaos erupted when the female officer was attacked by the mob and kicked to the ground. A video of the attack has gone viral on social media sites.

In the video, a group of police officers can be seen being shoved and pushed backwards by some of the angry group. This prevented the officers from rescuing their colleague, who was lying on the ground, surrounded by a crowd of people kicking her. The officer, covered in dust, was later dragged away to safety by one of her colleagues.

Speaking to Steelburger/Lydenburg News, the deceased’s sister, Jennifer Zungu, said she was inside the court when she heard people screaming outside.

“People seemed concerned about the postponement of the case. One of the SAPS officers yelled that they needed to respect the law and how the courts operated. The officer went on to say that, ‘they are not the ones who encouraged Precious to date Pakistani citizens.”

According to Zungu, this fuelled a scuffle between the SAPS and the protesters. Some were angered by her remarks. “My daughter was attacked in the incident. My leg got broken, as we were attacked by the SAPS. I am recovering at a hospital in Polokwane after this incident. One of the female officers was on top of my daughter, also attacking her,” she alleged.

Limpopo SAPS’s Brig Motlafelo Mojapelo said the viral video clips clearly create an impression that the people of Limpopo are up in arms against the police.

“The fact of the matter is this was a group of hooligans who wanted to disrupt the proper administration of justice by wanting to forcibly remove the two accused from the courtroom.”

Appearing in court were the two accused, Chema Ashan Fraz (28) and his accomplice Raza Ali (24), who were arrested for murdering Magabane, dismembering her body and then disposing of the parts at different places in the area along the R37 road between Burgersfort and Lydenburg.

Following the public violence and the assault on the police officer, the Limpopo SAPS have confirmed the arrests of two suspects, Prudence Magabane (37) and Thato Magabane (27). The duo are both related to the deceased and have appeared in the same court on Tuesday on charges of public violence and assault.

They were both released and warned to appear again on September 9.

Limpopo SAPS commissioner Gen Nneke Ledwaba said, “As much as we are sympathetic to the family of the deceased, due process must be allowed to unfold unhindered.

“The police did their work by apprehending the suspects in this case and we will therefore not tolerate any form of vigilantism.”