Africa-Press – South-Africa. Neighbours of a suspected Eastern Cape thief allegedly killed by an off-duty police station commander over the weekend say the community will be “free from his reign of terror”.
This while the victim’s family live in fear of the officer accused of dishing out vigilantism.
Unathi Bhontsi, 33, was found dead on the road near a dumping site in Ntabozuko, between Qonce and East London, on Saturday morning, a day after he was last seen by his family who alleged that he had been handcuffed and taken by the Macleantown police station commander, 42-year-old Captain Ayanda Duma.
It is alleged Duma was off duty but showed his police badge when he stormed into the victim’s home, handcuffed Bhontsi and then frogmarched him to his car.
Duma appeared in the King William’s Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, on charges of murder and assault.
The case has been postponed to Friday for further investigation.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) arrested Duma on Monday.
The captain was allegedly assisted by several local community police forum members and rounded up some of the supposed suspects, and he is accused of assaulting them.
According to the police watchdog, Duma blamed his victims for a break-in and theft at his residence in Lingelitsha township in Berlin.
It is understood that the interrogation of Bhontsi and other ostensibly notorious thieves took a deadly turn on Friday.
Bhontsi’s family told News24 on Tuesday that some community members, led by Duma, assaulted the suspected criminals at a secret location.
The family claimed others, including Bhontsi’s cousin, survived the ordeal but Bhontsi’s whereabouts were unknown until his lifeless body was spotted near a dumping site.
Family spokesperson Thumeka Bhontsi said they believe he was killed elsewhere before he was dumped on the site.
“We inspected the area and found out there was no blood on the ground. He bled to death elsewhere,” said Thumeka Bhontsi.
She said the family was now living in fear.
She added:
While Thumeka Bhontsi admitted that her nephew terrorised the community, she said an officer cannot be allowed to get away with breaking the law.
“He (Duma) cannot take the law into his own hands. We are devastated by his actions and scared that if we speak up, he will come back to crush us,” she said.
She described her nephew as a loving person who loved to joke.
“He was involved in crime, but crime will continue despite his murder.”
Duma’s distraught wife Sisanda Duma, 36, was battling to hold back tears during an interview with News24 at her neighbour’s home on Tuesday.
She said her husband’s arrest had left her and their two children, aged 14 and 11, traumatised.
She said the thieves broke into their home and stole a laptop, her child’s cellphone and meat from the freezer when she and her husband were out.
“Whoever did this used the opportunity to break the window in my children’s room. My kids are now traumatised and scared to sleep in the house. I am also in trouble because the laptop belongs to [my employer],” said Duma.
Duma is an administration clerk at a secondary school and the stolen laptop is the property of the Eastern Cape education department.
She maintained that her husband did not kill the suspect.
The couple was forced to drive to Berlin police station themselves on Thursday, after they were allegedly told there were no vehicles available to go to the crime scene.
Berlin police station is 5km from the Duma residence.
Two residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the group captured by the community, including the deceased, terrorised the area.
“They smoke drugs and when they run out of money to maintain their habit, they turn to stealing. We have been reporting this to the police, but nothing is being done. They never have vans, but they were very quick to come here in several vehicles to arrest the policeman,” said a local.
Another said: “They must release him and find the person who killed that boy. They should start by asking his friends who were doing the crime with him.”
She added that police were called when residents placed the suspected thieves under citizen’s arrest, but the authorities did not pitch.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson, Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana, could not immediately comment on the residents’ allegations of police incompetence. His response will be added once received.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
