Simon Mthembu (31) is an aggrieved man after police shot him from the back while he was part of a group of protesters in Ventersdorp on Tuesday.
‘We were not burning anything, had no stones on us or fighting anyone. The police aggressively ordered us to leave while we were protesting peacefully. We left and suddenly I felt a sharp, piercing pain in my arm after being shot with a rubber bullet,’ he said.
The injury was so severe that on Monday, doctors at the hospital had to perform surgery and insert plates in his broken arm. ‘I am still in pain right now; those police officers should pay for what they did.
‘I am devastated by what happened to me. That is why I opened a case to get justice,’ he told the Herald.
Last Friday, Simon told the executive mayor, Kgotso Khumalo and a large crowd that he had no choice but to be part of the protest because the issues that were raised in the memorandum affected him.
Among them was the ‘unfair 95/5 electricity policy that the Ventersdorp residents wanted to be scrapped. This means that if your account is in arrears and you buy R100 prepaid electricity, you will only receive R5 worth of electricity from the vendor. They also wanted councillors to step down because they were not serving the community. In addition, they wanted the merger to be reversed and a development on the N14 to start for job creation.
To add salt to his wounds, he says the police officer who shot at him swore at him after he raised his grievance with the executive mayor.
‘It’s a pity – I used to love policemen; sadly, they have turned to be murderers. I don’t see their use anymore,’ he said bitterly.
Col Adéle Myburgh, the NW police spokesperson says a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm was opened at Ventersdorp last Friday after an incident in which Mthembu was allegedly shot with a shotgun (rubber bullets) on Tuesday.
She says the protesters were allegedly throwing stones at vehicles on the Ventersdorp/Lichtenburg/Klerksdorp crossing during the protest action on Tuesday. ‘The police were mobilised and stability was restored in Ventersdorp after various interventions,’ she said.
When the Herald asked her to explain to the readers when it is justified for the police to shoot at the protesters, she said that police sometimes use minimum force during protest action. This includes discharging rubber bullets in order to protect property and the lives of fellow citizens.
‘The assault GBH (grievous bodily harm) case will be transferred to IPID (Independent Police Investigative Directorate) for further investigation.
‘When dissatisfied with the police, the members of the community can lodge a formal complaint against the police at their local police station commander, cluster commander or provincial commissioner,’ she advised.
