Pretoria - Four police officers have been arrested for the alleged shooting of a protester in Durban Deep on the West Rand.
A 28-year-old Tshepo Babuseng died after allegedly being shot in the chest by a police officer when protesting residents barricaded roads with stones and burning tyres on Thursday. Twenty-four people were arrested for public violence.
Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Neville Malila said after receiving a report on the incident, it was decided that they have enough evidence to arrest and charge the member who fired the shots for murder as well as defeating the ends, and to charge the others for defeating the ends of justice.
“The four members, between ages 33 and 49 years, were all arrested in the early hours of this morning…” Malila said, adding that the province viewed the shooting in a serious light.
He said the four, who will appear in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court soon, are deemed to be suspended as they were arrested and detained on the criminal charges.
Residents went on the rampage, burning tyres and barricading roads after a development company won a court order to evict them from the former mining area.
They received a notice stating that a private development company bought the premises and that residents needed to leave. – SAnews.gov.za
