Pretoria - A man was shot and killed in the Mamelodi West Hostels - allegedly by a police officer - on Saturday evening.
Class Modibe was killed as he was walking along a passage in the hostel while police were apparently conducting a crime prevention operation.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini refuted the claim, saying the incident occurred when an armed man tried to free detained suspects during the operation.
“When police confronted him a shoot-out ensued and a bystander was fatally shot,” Dlamini said.
However, this is in contrast to what hostel dwellers said.
They accused the police of lying and claim the shooting was a result of an extortion gone wrong.
Zizi Selala said Modibe was shot after a police officer failed to solicit a bribe from him.
Selala, who regularly plays dice at the hostel, said they were harassed daily by police officers.
“When the police came on Saturday I ran away because they had just taken money from me the previous day,” said Selala.
“Then they started shooting at me and that’s when they shot Class because I was running in his direction.
“The officer started shooting randomly at some point because I was already out of his vision,” he said.
Selala said it had become a nightmare living at the hostel because of the constant harassment they experienced.
“Police always come here and demand money for one thing or another.
“If you don’t give them they arrest you on a bogus charge. I was tired of it and decided I was going to run away this time,” Selala said.
Chairman of the hostel residents’ association Daniel Sello said it was regrettable that a life had been lost at the hands of law enforcers.
“It’s always a struggle.
“Those guys just play their dice and do not bother anyone but the police are always harassing them,” he said.
Dlamini said police were investigating a case of murder but no arrests had been made.
“The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) has opened a case on the shooting.
Ipid spokesman Moses Dlamini was not available for comment on Sunday.
* In his State of the City Address, mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said the city was exploring turning the hostels into bachelor units, rather than family units as had originally been planned because this would be more affordable to those living there who were unemployed or working in the informal sector.
Pretoria News