Pretoria - The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is investigating the alleged involvement of police officers in the fatal shooting of schoolgirl Thalente Msibi in Mpumalanga.
According to information from the EFF in the province, the 17-year-old Msibi was gunned down on her way from school following a protest in Mabola Village near Dirkiesdorp in the Mkhondo Local Municipality on Monday.
“The EFF in Mpumalanga is highly disgusted and angry about the continuous brutality and killing of young, innocent children by the police during service delivery protests.
“Thalente Msibi was shot and killed with live ammunition by the police on Monday on her way from school,” said EFF provincial leader Collen Sedibe.
Sedibe said the police were wrong to use live ammunition to disperse protesters, who have a right to express their dissatisfaction with poor service.
It was not the first time children were killed during community protests in Mpumalanga, he said.
“Just four months ago, two young children, aged 9 and 14, were killed by stray live ammunition in Chief Albert Luthuli. One child was also shot in Bushbuckridge.
“These brutal and senseless killings leave parents and families in heavy pain. They have been happening for a while without any single police officer held accountable,” he said.
Sedibe called on provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, to take swift action against the police involved in the latest alleged shooting.
“The EFF gives the provincial commissioner seven days to attend to report back to the parents of the deceased. Failure of which, the EFF will have no option but to take further action, including but not limited to, a personal civil suit,” Sedibe said.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala declined to comment, saying: “The matter is in the hands of Ipid.”
Ipid spokesperson Lizzy Suping confirmed the investigation, but was unable to give details.
However, it seems Ipid’s oversight of police brutality has not yielded any positive action.
The 2021/2022 Ipid annual report released last year said thousands of police officers have been investigated for numerous human rights violations.
Ipid disclosed that it had investigated more than 5 000 crimes allegedly committed by police officers, including murder, attempted murder, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and rape.
The report detailed the number and type of cases registered, investigated, completed, including criminal referrals and recommendations as well as the outcome of these.
The cases varied from deaths in police custody, deaths as a result of police actions, complaints relating to the discharge of an official firearm by any police officer, rape by a police officer, rape while in police custody, torture or assault by a police officer in the execution of his or her duties and corruption matters within the police.
“A total of 5 295 cases were registered during the reporting period. Of these, 3 407 were assault cases; 744 were cases of discharge of an official firearm; 410 were cases of deaths as a result of police action, followed by 223 cases of deaths in police custody," said Suping, summarising the report.
A total of 633 people died in police cells, police vehicles, an ambulance, court cells, crime scenes, hospitals or clinics due to the behaviour of police officers, she said. “Most deaths occurred at the crime scene (384), followed by deaths in hospitals/clinics (118) and deaths in police cells (110).”
On and off-duty police officers were also investigated for rape.
“Most incidents were reported in KwaZulu-Natal (20), followed by Gauteng (18, the Western Cape (18), and the Eastern Cape, with 15,” said Suping. Rape incidents involving police officers in the 2020/21 reporting period rose from 80 to 90 in the 2021/22 financial year, she added.
Pretoria News