They did not deserve to die!
“We fear for our lives because people who are supposed to protect us are killing us."
BOIPATONG.- The Molebatsi and Buda families are demanding answers from the police after their children were brutally murdered over the last weekend. Vuyo Buda (25) and Solly Molebatsi (23) were allegedly assaulted by the Boipatong SAPS patrollers before they died in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Buda is said to have been admitted to the Sebokeng Hospital and unfortunately died on Sunday morning. The two were apparently found in possession of stolen goods that included televisions and cell phones. Speaking to Sedibeng Ster, family members said they demand answers about the manner in which the pair were killed. “As much as they found my son with stolen items, those patrollers had no right to kill him, they were supposed to hand him over to the police. There is no person who deserves to die in that way. We were told that they put them in a sewerage pipe, and then assaulted. The police came on Saturday with the local councillor to inform us. We don’t have money to bury my son because I had just started to work at the beginning of the level 2,” said Solly’s father, Paul Molebatsi from Phase 1 Tshepiso, Sharpeville. According to Molebatsi, the pair were from a rehabilitation centre recovering from substance abuse. “My son was locked in the shack of one of the patrollers, he was assaulted beyond recognition and died on Sunday morning. We were told that we cannot open a case, because the state has already opened a case. We want to know if patrollers are given a license to kill people. If they found them stealing, why they didn’t call the police or take them to a police station? I’m a single parent and I’m not working, how I’m going to bury my son?” asked the bereaved mother, Nokuphumla Buda. Some of the community members said that this is not the first time that the patrollers have been involved in such a brutal attack in the area. Sedibeng Ster is told that at one stage they burned one boys’ feet. “We fear for our lives because people who are supposed to protect us are killing us. “They are like gangsters, and their black uniform explains a lot about them,” said a resident who didn’t want to be identified for fear of reprisals. At the time of going to press Sedibeng Ster was still awaiting a comment from Boipatong SAPS.
