Johannesburg - The family of one of the four people killed during violent service delivery protests in Tembisa this week believes the 43-year-old man is a victim of a racially-motivated shooting.
Pheta Molonyama, a local welder from the township’s Mashemong section, died after being shot by a white Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality Police Department (EMPD) officer on Monday.
Family spokesperson Boitumelo Sekonyane said they believed that the only reason Molonyama was shot and killed was because he was black.
“We have this increase of racism where when white policemen and white metro police officers enter our neighbourhoods, all they see when they look at black people are automatic criminals, thugs, illiterate vagabonds. That is what he saw when he saw Pheta.
“To have no remorse in shooting him and no remorse in saying 'Ja, ek het hom geskiet' (Yes, I shot him) is because of what Pheta represents – a black person in the ghetto,” she said.
According to Sekonyane, Molonyama was asked to come and check a local place that he is used to fixing.
“On his way back, he met a crowd and the violence that he met was that of a white metro police who shot at him although he was not part of the protest,” she insisted.
Sekonyane added that when Molonyama’s 69-year-old mother got to the scene, she asked the metro police officer: “Are you the man who shot my son?”
The metro police officer responded: “Ja, ek het hom geskiet”.
As if that was not enough, the metro cop almost ran over the sexagenarian.
“He tried leaving the scene (and) as he was leaving the scene in his nyala he tried running over Pheta’s mother, and community members intervened and pushed her to the side,” said Sekonyane.
She said the family feels like black people are treated as less than human in South Africa at this point just because “when we decide to protest against high municipal rates, we get killed, and the response is ‘Ek het hom geskiet’”.
Sekonyane pleaded with authorities who promised that Molonyama’s killing would not sit on a desk but would instead be attended to by investigators and other law enforcement institutions to keep their promises.
“This is a cry from myself and Pheta’s family to say that they must not forget us, they must continue to work, and in fact, they must push harder so that it doesn’t take years for my brother to find justice,” she appealed.
The township witnessed violent scenes throughout the week, with residents decrying high prices for basic services. They accused the municipality of being anti-poor.
Protesters blockaded roads and torched a customer-care centre. At least four people were killed as a result of the protests, with Molonyama being shot by an EMPD member. Police are still looking into the circumstances surrounding the other deaths.
At Molonyama’s memorial service on Thursday evening, Tembisa Community Forum’s Xolani Mnisi said they did not plan for lives to be lost during the protests.
The EMPD and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate have undertaken to investigate this week’s killings.
Outside Molonyama’s home this week after paying his respects, Gauteng Human Settlements, Urban Planning and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Lebogang Maile said what the family told them was very disturbing.
“It’s hurting because the deceased was a welder working for himself. He was shot while he was in his working gear – the boots, the overalls, and the gloves – meaning he was not even part of the protest,” he said.
Maile added that Molonyama was shot by a white police officer who had no shame, who boldly stated that he indeed fired the shot that killed him.
“We are told that the same guy nearly ran over the mother of the deceased,” he said.
Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell promised that the municipality would launch an investigation.
On Friday, Campbell addressed Tembisa residents at the Mehlareng Stadium to respond to their grievances which saw them take to the streets after she failed to pitch up for a scheduled meeting the previous week.
“I want to apologise for not coming to address you earlier. However, I wanted to make sure what I am bringing you is tangible solutions rather than merely paying lip service to your complaints,” she said.
In addition, Campbell told residents that city manager Dr Imogen Mashazi has undertaken to launch an investigation into external vendor charges, among the community’s complaints that they were paying too much for electricity.
“No one should be paying more than what is regulated,” she said.