The PPP Security officer accused of murder and attempted murder following the August 2022 shootings at the municipal civic centre during one of the town’s worst-ever unprotected, often violent, municipal strike over grading and higher wages, kicked off his defence in the High Court sitting in Middelburg today.

Nqubeko Bright Mchunu said on the stand after launching his defence, that he fired only five rounds at ‘aggressive’ municipal employees after they broke down the municipality’s main gate to gain entry.

Mchunu testified that an earlier shooting incident preceded the evening’s deadly events.

According to him, the police were called to the municipality following a shooting that took place around 10:00 that morning.

Mchunu testified that he was stationed at the clinic next to the civic centre when the shooting occurred.

He then went to the back entrance of the municipality, where he was told by colleagues that striking employees, gathered at the park behind the municipality, had fired a shot.

The police dispersed the municipal employees who regathered at the park again, which resulted in the fatal shooting incident between employees and PPP Security staff between 15:00 and 16:00.

Mchunu says the trouble started around 15:00 when Acting Municipal Manager Thokozile Zulu wanted to leave the municipal premises.
Her vehicle was blocked at the back exit by striking employees.

Stones and bottles were packed in front of the gate, while a vehicle was also parked in front of the gate to block Zulu from leaving.
Zulu was then escorted to the front entrance where she safely left.

A PPP Security Quantum then forced its way past the vehicle blocking the back entrance, with the plan to pick up PPP Security staff at the front entrance to avoid a clash with striking employees.

The white Ford Ranger that blocked the entrance, however, followed the Quantum to the front, where the Quantum was supposed to pick up waiting guards.
The Quantum entered the municipal premises, and guards again closed and locked the gate, to avoid striking employees.

This is where the water, however, gets murky, with Mchunu testifying that the occupants of the Ford Ranger immediately exited the vehicle and violently broke down the locked gate, where guards were then confronted by two men, identified by Mchunu as Sonke, and the deceased, Tshepo Maseko.

Mchunu says more employees then entered the premises, and he was confronted by three men, who were two to three paces away from him, demanding he hand over his weapon, before he fired the first volley of shots.

One of the men confronting Mchunu wore a mask and blue gloves.

After firing the shots, Mchunu says he ran towards his colleagues but was again blocked by two striking employees, resulting in more shots.
He maintains he acted in self-defence because his own life, and those of his colleagues, were in imminent danger.

The last shots fired by Mchunu struck Maseko, who died on the scene.

Mchunu denies state witness testimony that they were confronted by employees who merely wanted to ask why PPP Security guards shot at them earlier, implying that the gunshots heard at 10:00 had not been fired by them.

Mchunu testified that the fact that the front gate was violently breached, proved that the strikers at least attempted to disarm them and enter the building to intimidate working employees.

Throughout his testimony, Mchunu maintained that he only fired five rounds to protect his life, in self-defence.

His rifle was handed to his supervisor with five rounds in the magazine after he was issued with the firearm and 10 rounds when he arrived for work.
He was arrested by the police the next day when he reported for duty at the municipality again.

The courtroom was filled to the brim with municipal employees today.
The trial continues after the state rested its case yesterday.

Mchunu cut a lone figure in court throughout the trial, with municipal employees packed in the courtroom like sardines.

Zulu was later forced to resign due to municipal employees blaming her for the carnage.