By Jeff Wicks And Matthew Savides
The Abahlali baseMjondolo shack dwellers' movement is celebrating a 10-year sentence handed to a Durban police officer for the 2013 murder of a teenage activist.
In mid-July 2017‚ Phumlani Ndlovu was convicted for the murder of 17-year-old Nqobile Nzuza on September 30‚ 2013. At the time of the shooting‚ Abahlali leaders said she took two bullets in the back around 5am during a housing delivery protest in Durban.
Ndlovu and three other police officers had come under attack from a group of armed protesters during a wave of civil disobedience linked to the demolition of shacks. It was the first time that Ndlovu had fired his gun in his career.
Throughout the trial Ndlovu maintained that the bullet that had hit Nzuza in the back was not fired from his gun‚ despite ballistic evidence proving the contrary. He provided several different versions of the shooting‚ including that he had fired shots into the ground and up in the air.
Ballistic evidence revealed that Nzuza was indeed running away. At the time of Nzuza's killing‚ Abahlali described the incident as "shoot to kill policing".
"This is the crackdown that the police and politicians promised on protests. This is policing that is willing to murder to suppress the struggle for real justice and real freedom. This is policing that is used to oppress the people in the interests of the ruling party and the tenderpreneurs and gangsters that have seized control of it in Durban‚" the organisation said at the time.
But on Monday they were celebrating that Ndlovu was held to account – even if his sentencing came more than four years after the incident. The officer has applied for leave to appeal‚ but was not granted bail pending that outcome.
Durban Regional Court Magistrate Anand Maharaj found that Ndlovu had not been contrite or remorseful during the course of the trial‚ and instead attempted to mislead the court. Maharaj described the case as a difficult one‚ and said that the violent nature of the march had been considered in his deviation from the minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment for murder.
"It was accepted that the march was not peaceful and that people had been armed with all manner of weapons‚" he said.
Maharaj said that he was faced with a conundrum as police officers were expected to enforce the law but also be circumspect with the use of lethal force.
Abahlali general secretary Thapelo Mohapi said the organisation was happy with the court's ruling.
"We are happy that he has lost his job and will start to serve his time in Westville Prison‚" Mohapi said on Monday. Mohapi was in the Durban Magistrate's Court when the sentencing was handed down.
"The child ‚ the movement and the family will find closure in that justice is now served. The arm of the law is very long‚ and we are happy that‚ finally‚ justice has been served for the movement and family. But we are not happy that the officer has not shown remorse to the family‚" he said.
Shack dwellers celebrate as Durban cop gets 10 years in jail for killing teen
By Jeff Wicks And Matthew Savides
The Abahlali baseMjondolo shack dwellers' movement is celebrating a 10-year sentence handed to a Durban police officer for the 2013 murder of a teenage activist.
In mid-July 2017‚ Phumlani Ndlovu was convicted for the murder of 17-year-old Nqobile Nzuza on September 30‚ 2013. At the time of the shooting‚ Abahlali leaders said she took two bullets in the back around 5am during a housing delivery protest in Durban.
Ndlovu and three other police officers had come under attack from a group of armed protesters during a wave of civil disobedience linked to the demolition of shacks. It was the first time that Ndlovu had fired his gun in his career.
Throughout the trial Ndlovu maintained that the bullet that had hit Nzuza in the back was not fired from his gun‚ despite ballistic evidence proving the contrary. He provided several different versions of the shooting‚ including that he had fired shots into the ground and up in the air.
Ballistic evidence revealed that Nzuza was indeed running away. At the time of Nzuza's killing‚ Abahlali described the incident as "shoot to kill policing".
"This is the crackdown that the police and politicians promised on protests. This is policing that is willing to murder to suppress the struggle for real justice and real freedom. This is policing that is used to oppress the people in the interests of the ruling party and the tenderpreneurs and gangsters that have seized control of it in Durban‚" the organisation said at the time.
But on Monday they were celebrating that Ndlovu was held to account – even if his sentencing came more than four years after the incident. The officer has applied for leave to appeal‚ but was not granted bail pending that outcome.
Durban Regional Court Magistrate Anand Maharaj found that Ndlovu had not been contrite or remorseful during the course of the trial‚ and instead attempted to mislead the court. Maharaj described the case as a difficult one‚ and said that the violent nature of the march had been considered in his deviation from the minimum sentence of 15 years imprisonment for murder.
"It was accepted that the march was not peaceful and that people had been armed with all manner of weapons‚" he said.
Maharaj said that he was faced with a conundrum as police officers were expected to enforce the law but also be circumspect with the use of lethal force.
Abahlali general secretary Thapelo Mohapi said the organisation was happy with the court's ruling.
"We are happy that he has lost his job and will start to serve his time in Westville Prison‚" Mohapi said on Monday. Mohapi was in the Durban Magistrate's Court when the sentencing was handed down.
"The child ‚ the movement and the family will find closure in that justice is now served. The arm of the law is very long‚ and we are happy that‚ finally‚ justice has been served for the movement and family. But we are not happy that the officer has not shown remorse to the family‚" he said.
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