Cape Town - Manenberg was a war zone on Thursday when a cop was shot and wounded and chaos erupted in the streets.
Manenberg Cluster Commander and former Hanover Park communications officer Captain Ettienne Conradie, 50, is recovering in hospital after he was shot in the stomach.
Conradie was leading a team of officers doing crime prevention operations in Renoster Walk when police arrested two people for possession of dagga.
He was shot during an alleged shooting between cops and suspected gangsters.
Police say the community turned on them after they made the arrest.
But several angry community members told the Daily Voice Conradie was shot by one of his own men.
“They (police) just burst into the people’s home with no respect,” a resident told the Daily Voice.
“They come here acting like gangsters all the time.
The witness adds: “No one shot at them, it was their own members who shot the policeman and now they’re blaming us!”
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s Moses Dlamini says: “This matter was reported this afternoon but at this stage it has not been confirmed if the shot was fired by the police.”
Police say “the perpetrator” who shot Conradie managed to flee with “his accomplices”.
Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut confirmed the incident.
“The circumstances surrounding an attack on police are being investigated following an incident in Renoster Walk Manenberg (Thursday) morning at around 9.15am where a police captain was shot and wounded while performing duties in the area,” says Traut.
“The member was admitted to hospital where he is being treated for his injury.
“The captain and his colleagues were conducting a search operation for illegal firearms and drugs when they came under attack.
“The perpetrator fled the scene with his accomplices and they are yet to be arrested.”
After the shooting, residents turned on police and stoned their vehicles.
Traut says two people were arrested for malicious damage to property.
“During the operation, a 31-year-old male and a 21-year-old female were arrested for the possession of a block of compressed dagga,” he says.
“Two suspects, a 27-year-old male and a 26-year-old female were also arrested for malicious damage to property.”
An 18-year-old woman, Jodene Valentine, was allegedly shot in the leg and back but by Thursday afternoon, police had no record of her shooting.
A heated stand-off between Renoster Walk residents and police lasted for several minutes after the shooting drama.
Residents shouted and swore at the heavily armed cops who tried their best to defuse the situation.
One woman says she was assaulted by a policeman after she confronted him for “nearly shooting” her two-year-old son.
“I came out to see what the commotion was about when I heard the gunshots and he almost shot my child,” she says.
“When I asked him why he shot at my child, he slapped me,” she claims.
Manenberg police spokesperson Captain Ian Bennett says residents make it difficult for police to execute their duties.
“The members are here to serve and protect and that’s what we want to do but how can we execute our duties when the communities turn on us every time? What do they want us to do?” asks Bennett.
“When the gangsters open fire, the members have to protect themselves.
“We want the gang violence to end but how can we win if the community is going to attack the police? It looks as if they are with the gangs. No one wants to go into the area, not the medical staff of fire department, but we have to into the area because we have a job to do.”
The shooting of the officer comes two days after Philippi East Constable Amanda Ladlokova, 33, was shot dead in Acacia Park, Philippi, while on duty.
Daily Voice