Zimbabwean embassy official shot dead
A security official from the Zimbabwean embassy was allegedly shot and killed by a police officer in civilian clothes on Saturday.
Senior staff at the Zimbabwean embassy were in a crisis meeting on Monday following the fatal shooting of a security official at the embassy allegedly by a police officer in civilian clothes on Saturday.
Chaos reigned in Glenwood Road in the quiet suburb of Faerie Glen after Lucky Hakueri and a friend were gunned down in broad daylight allegedly by police who mistook them for suspected criminals.
Gunshots rang out after the two friends purportedly ignored calls by the alleged plain-clothed policemen to bring their blue BMW sedan to a halt. Police opened fire and allegedly fatally shot Hakueri in the head and the BMW came to a halt against the fence of a gated community.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) on Monday said it was still investigating the shooting.
Hakueri (37), a security official at the embassy, died on the scene while his friend, whom he had known for ten years, was shot and injured on the right side of his torso.
Ipid spokesperson Moses Dlamini could, on Monday, not confirm the deceased man’s identity or if he was indeed an official at the Zimbabwean embassy, but other sources confirmed his identity to Rekord.
It is believed the two men were waiting outside a complex in Glenwood Road to gain entry to keep a tennis appointment with a complex resident when a police officer in civilian clothes armed with an R5 rifle reportedly approached the men. It is suspected that the two men thought the policeman – not in uniform – was a hijacker.
According to eyewitnesses, the two men sped off and the police officer allegedly opened fire. Hakueri was killed and his friend wounded.
Debby Henderson, a trauma councillor on the scene, said the fleeing men allegedly turned into Faerie Glen Road but were denied access at the boom gates.
“The men then reversed and slammed into a passing grey Toyota Yaris and turned back into Glenwood Road. The men allegedly again ignored police orders to pull over and tried to flee from the police, hence the police officers opened fire and the driver was shot,” Henderson said.
Dlamini said Ipid are investigating the matter. “The investigation is still in an early stage. No arrests have been made,” said Dlamini.
The Zimbabwean embassy was not yet able to comment, as the ambassador and other diplomats were busy in a crisis meeting, presumably about the incidents, which could cause some diplomatic embarrassment.
Provincial police spokesperson, Lungelo Dlamini, could not comment on Monday on the matter. He said the case was now in the hands of Ipid. According to media reports, Hakueri is married to Sarah Sande. The couple, who live in Riviera, have a 2-year-old son, Leroy Camilo.
The wounded man is reportedly Hakueri’s close friend of almost 10 years. Media reports on Monday indicated that the man, who was wounded on his right side, remains in intensive care at a hospital in Pretoria.
