Pretoria - Police in the North West have urged the public to allow the Independent Police Investigating Directorate (IPID) space to do its work in investigating the death of protesters in Mothutlung, near Brits.
This after reports emerged that the same police involved in Marikana were also present at water protests in Brits, which turned deadly.
Spokesperson Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said the South African Police Service (SAPS) regretted the loss of life and expressed their condolences to the families of the deceased.
“The provincial commissioner would like to ensure the community that the police are committed to ensure the safety of all citizens and would like to request any persons with information to come forward and report it to the Crime Stop number, 08600 10111 / 10111, the nearest police station or IPID,” said Mokgwabone.
The incidents are being investigated criminally by the IPID and the Provincial Commissioner of the North West Province, Lt Gen Zukiswa Mbombo, has set up a team to conduct an internal departmental investigation for compliance with policies on crowd management, which will be concluded shortly.
A fourth person died on Monday after he was injured in clashes when the community was demanding access to water last week.
Enock Seimela, 36, died at George Mukhari Hospital in Ga-Rankuwa after spending seven days in ICU.
Three others killed in the clashes were buried over the weekend. – SAnews.gov.za
