Family demands justice for their son

Lolo Madonsela

The family of 31-year-old Phakamani Kubheka are still reeling after his death and demand that justice takes its course.
Phakamani was allegedly shot in the chest by a police officer and later died.
“We want justice. We want the police officer to be arrested and never work again as a law enforcer. We want the truth; they are busy lying to us,” said Phakamani’s sister, Nomfundo Kubheka. The deceased’s mother, Silindile Kubheka, shared her pain and said that her son was supporting her and his children, “How am I supposed to support his kids and myself now that he is gone? He was the one who was taking care of me and the kids. We demand justice for our son!”
Silindile echoed the community’s sentiments that Phakamani was neither a violent person nor a criminal.
“He was not a criminal, he was not a violent person and he never carried weapons, not even the knife the police were referring to. That is why the whole community got up and demanded justice, because they know the kind of a person he was,” said Silindile.
She expressed her gratitude to the community of eMondlo, as well as the Vryheid community and citizens throughout the country, for the support they have showed during this difficult time.
“We are very grateful for their support; they have been with us throughout. All sections in eMondlo showed support and demanded justice for Phakamani, including the community of Vryheid and the whole of South Africa. We received calls from throughout the country, showing support and sympathy. We are deeply hurt by this whole situation, because the police claim he was shot once to the chest. However, when we went to wash his body on Friday, we found that he had three bullet holes to his body; one to the chest, one in the abdomen and another one in his lower back. This shows that the person’s intentions were to kill him, because there were five bullet cartridges found at the scene,” added Silindile.
His sister added that, “The family heard gunshots and one of the kids told us that Phakamani’s car was outside with the police. When we rushed out, we found him lying there. We had to beg the police officers to help us take him to the clinic. They did not even help to carry him into the van. When they arrived at the clinic, they just dropped him off at the door with my other sister and they left.
“The police never showed any sympathy or empathy and they never even informed us that he has passed on, like they claim they did. When our aunt told us he has passed on, we went to the police station the next day to open a case and the police told us they had already opened a case. We do not know how they could do that without even speaking to the family. It’s a good thing they did not show up on the day of the funeral, because we do not want to see them. We hate the police; even those who are innocent. They are all in the same boat now; we do not want to see any man in blue,” said Mfundo.
The community of eMondlo took to the streets last week Monday, protesting and demanding answers and justice for Phakamani under the hashtag #JusticeforPhakamani. A number of protesters were injured when police fired rubber bullets to disperse the crowd and total of 37 people were arrested, with the majority of them being women (only three were male).

Also read: #JusticeforPhakamani protest leaves eMondlo burning

Captain Nkocy Gwala confirmed that, “37 people were arrested for public violence and appeared in the Nquthu Court, where they were granted bail. They will go back to court on August 20.”
Captain Gwala could not confirm the number of protesters injured on the day.
Last week Thursday, following Monday’s protest, Captain Gwala confirmed that the SANDF, SAPS, POP Ulundi and POP Newcastle were deployed in eMondlo to “monitor occurrences of any crime, including illegal marches.”
She also confirmed that Phakamani’s funeral would be monitored “to ensure that all funeral proceedings go well, without chaos and without incident.”
However, on the day of the funeral, no law enforcement was visible. It was sombre at the Kubheka home, where the sermon took place, and emotions were high as community members anticipated the arrival of law enforcement officers.
“We are waiting for them. We dare them to come here and disrupt this funeral; we are ready for them. If they arrest us again, so be it. We want justice for Phakamani,” said one community member who had been arrested on the day of the protest. Cola from IPID confirmed that Phakamani’s case had indeed been transferred to the department and that investigations were continuing.
“IPID confirms that we received an incident of death as a result of police action that took place on June 6, 2020, in the Mondlo area in Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal. IPID is still investigating the murder case. No arrest has been made yet,” said Cola.

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