Durban — Family and friends of 27-year-old Sihle Mtshare, who was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by Mariannhill SAPS Sergeant Ayanda Doctor Ntombela, picketed outside the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Monday calling for the officer not to be granted bail.
“We want justice, he must not be granted bail. We hope the case is not handled by people he has worked with. We really hope the case is handled by people who don’t know him at all, who will not show him empathy because they work or worked with him,” said Phumzile Mtshare, Sihle’s aunt.
The accused officer allegedly took Mtshare in for questioning on August 21, 2022, and he disappeared; thereafter his body was found in Camperdown.
“Sihle was taken by police and could not be found after that. In the end, the officer returned Sihle’s phone and we were only then able to know where Sihle was,” said Mtshare’s aunt.
The picket and singing outside the court continued for most of the day as Ntombela was only called to the dock after lunch when the State asked that the matter be adjourned for a bail investigation.
“The arranged date for bail consideration is September 19,” said the State, which indicated that it would be opposing bail in the matter.
Speaking outside court another close relative, who did not want to be named, described Sihle as a quiet person.
“He did not drink, he was employed at Unilever. I’ve never heard that he had conflict or confrontations with anyone, he had no enemies. Even at school, he kept his head in his books; even at home he was quick to apologise when in the wrong so we really do not know the reason … why he was killed.”
She said Sihle mostly kept to himself and stayed at home on his days off, cleaning, and was not the type of person who went out.
“Even on the day he disappeared he had done the washing, ironed the clothes and cooked.”
According to the family on the day, Sihle was taken in for questioning it was alleged that the police officer could not specify why he was arresting him. When the family went to look for him the following day at the Mariannhill police station, nobody knew about his case.
“After we had gone to multiple police stations and hospitals to look for him, we posted him on social media platforms as a missing person. I received a call from an unknown number, from a boy, who said he knew our son after seeing his picture on social media, and that they had all been arrested on the same night,” said another relative.
She said that the boy told her that the officer who had brought Sihle in told another officer who was with him in the charge room to look after him.
“The boy assisted us with identifying the police officer who had arrested him.”
She said the identified officer allegedly denied arresting Sihle or even knowing him; however, when his colleagues had undertaken an investigation it was proved that he allegedly arrested him.
She added that after two weeks they were called by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to identify the body at Camperdown.
“When we arrived at Camperdown we went to identify his body and it was not a good sight. We were told that the police officer has been arrested,” she said.
Sihle, the youngest of three children, left behind a one-year-old child.
Daily News