'Utter chaos and screaming'
2009-10-12 23:04
Pretoria - The driver of a car in which a woman was shot dead by police, Air Force pilot Simon Matibela, said he slowed down when he saw a police vehicle with blue lights behind him.
The police apparently mistook Matibela and his three friends, Andrew Tshingo, 26, Sophie Kgagare, 29, and Olga Kekana, 29, who had been on their way from Stinkwater to GaRankuwa, for hijackers.
He said moments after slowing down, the first bullet came through the car's rear window.
"Andrew jumped from the back seat and switched on the hazard lights, to show the police that we aren't criminals.
Bullets rained down
"When my car came to a stop, the bullets rained down on us for about 20 seconds. They shot at us from behind the car and from the right-hand side."
"There was utter chaos and screaming. We looked for shelter, prayed, and hoped we would survive," said Matibela.
But Kekana didn't survive. She was shot in the head and died instantly.
When the police stopped firing, Matibela got out of his car and lay on the ground. He showed his air force ID card "to prove that I'm not a criminal".
Cops fled
While he was lying on the ground, the policemen who fired at the car fled without saying a word.
"What went wrong with the procedures the guys (police officers) should have followed? I'm still trying to fathom what they were thinking.
"You shoot when being fired at, not when a car slows down."
Matibela said when he saw photos taken of his car at the scene he "wondered how I survived that".
Tshingo was wounded in the leg and hand is and still being treated at the George Mukhari hospital.
Kgagare, who was also injured, has been discharged.
The car the real hijackers had stolen was later found abandoned a few blocks from where the shooting took place.
Zuma blamed
Matibela partly blamed Zuma for the shooting.
"The president made a mistake by giving police powers that they could not control," Mathibela said.
However, Zuma's spokesperson said the president never used the words "shoot to kill" in his recent meeting with about 1 000 police station commanders.
"This is a phrase that has been coined by some in the media and its use has been very unfair and misleading," said Zuma's spokesperson Magwenya.
At the meeting, Zuma expressed support for an amendment to Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act that would give the police more leeway to shoot in dangerous situations.
Zuma did make it clear at the meeting this did not mean police officers should be "trigger-happy".
The ICD had taken over the investigation and dockets for murder and three for attempted murder had been opened.
Eight firearms were confiscated and would be sent for ballistic tests.
Cops must issue order
Johann Burger, from the Institute for Security Studies, said that, given the current climate of violent crime in the country, the police should issue an order stating that members in unmarked vehicles are not allowed to pull people over.
Burger referred to countless incidents where criminals professed to be the police and then robbed or hijacked people.
"This particular order must definitely be released, so the public can be aware of it."