Africa-Press – South-Africa. Police officers used stun grenades to disperse a group of protesters at the Tsakane Magistrate’s Court where seven Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officers were appearing in connection with a deadly shooting.
The protesters, who were there in support of the deceased, also broke down the court gate and cracked the glass of the court building’s entrance door.
This happened while the seven men’s bail application was being heard in courtroom 2.
In the court gallery, a loud bang was heard from the outside and the prosecution asked: “Are we safe?”
However, due to other cases on the roll, the bail application of the seven officers had to be postponed to 27 and 29 September.
The officers allegedly raided a shack in Langaville, Extension 6, where a 19-year-old man was shot dead, and a 29-year-old man was injured on Thursday.
The officers are Laurens Daniel Venter, 49, Nkululeko Walter Mtetwa, 36, Daniel Eric van Wyk, 39, Gideon Johannes Myburg, 60, Justin Sibusiso Ncube, 50, Thamodhran Pillay, 50, and Eugene Phillip Raubenheimer, 62.
In his bail application, Venter told the court he had been an officer for more than a decade.
He told it about his personal circumstances which included that he was married and had three children.
Venter also lives with his 73-year-old mother.
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He said he did not have a passport or a family living outside South Africa.
Venter told the court he had a kidney transplant three years.
As he testified, some in the gallery hurled insults at him, with one saying: “He is talking nonsense”.
Another one speaking in Zulu said: “He is pissing me off.”
Venter will continue his testimony later this month. The seven men are accused of murder, attempted murder, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and defeating the ends of justice.
They were arrested on Friday and Saturday after they handed themselves in.
The defence previously told the court Raubenheimer had a pending charge of malicious damage to property for which he would be appearing in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on 23 September.
News24 reported Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson Lizzy Suping said the officers found four men during a raid.
They allegedly assaulted two of the men in the shack, after which shots were fired.
One man was taken to hospital and the incident was reported at the Tsakane police station. Later, it was discovered one of the men had been dumped behind a shack.
Suping said a post-mortem was conducted at Spring Pathology Services on Friday.
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