Cape Town - Forensic expert David Klatzow has been hired by Nando’s to probe the police’s shooting of their staff.
The incident occurred last week as the staff were being driven home after work.
Harrowing details of the shooting by police of two Nando’s employees have also since come to light from colleagues who were in the car when officers opened fire.
Police have yet to interview any of them.
Mother-of-two Phumeza Fudumele was shot dead and Zanele Dineka was wounded in Dunoon on Wednesday night when police allegedly opened fire without warning.
The police officers involved in the shooting have yet to be arrested or suspended.
Alex Nelisi told the Cape Argus on Monday that they had been chatting in the car on their way home, as they usually did, when they heard gunshots and felt the bullets hitting the vehicle.
He said no warning shots were fired and there had been no sounds of a siren.
Nelisi said after the driver stopped, police asked them to step outside and kneel with their hands in the air and, despite one of his colleagues having stepped outside the vehicle, police continued shooting at it.
“We asked them why they were shooting at us and told them we were coming from work, but no one responded.”
He said police who arrived later told them they had been looking for a car similar to theirs, which was why they had come under fire.
Police said the vehicle matched the description of a vehicle which earlier bombed an ATM.
Dineka, who was shot in the leg, said she didn’t recall exactly what happened.
“I heard gunshots and the next thing I woke up in hospital. That’s when I realised I was shot,” she said.
Dineka said she was still unable to walk properly.
“I can’t walk right and my ears are still blocked from the noise made by the guns. But I’m thankful I’m still alive. Phumeza was not so lucky and now her children will grow up without their mother,” she said.
Read: Nando’s workers ‘shot by police’
Another Nando’s employee who survived the shooting was Ziyanda Gophe, who said she was lucky.
“We screamed when we heard the shots and yelled at the police that we are not thugs,” said Gophe.
She said when they realised Phumeza had been shot, they asked police to help and call an ambulance.
She said the police who fired the shots didn’t call an ambulance but officers in a second van, which arrived on the scene, did.
Gophe said Phumeza had still been alive and could’ve been saved had they called an ambulance in time.
“I hope they all get arrested and brought to book for what they did to us,” she said.
Klatzow said they were trying to find out why police opened fire on civilians.
He said they wanted to know why police fired shots at the car without checking if it was the one they were looking for, and why they didn’t try to stop the car. They would also be looking at what time the ambulance was called. Klatzow added no one had bothered to interview the people who were in the car.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesman Robbie Raburabu said they only received the case docket on Friday.
He said the investigation was still at an early stage and all witnesses would be approached in due time.
Cape Argus