Johannesburg - The alleged killer security guard accused of murdering an innocent civilian during the 21-day national lockdown operation will spend another week in jail as he faces seven charges for the alleged gruesome crimes.
On Tuesday, Siphiwe Ndlovu made his first court appearance at the Boksburg Regional Court for allegedly killing Sibusiso Amos, 40, in front of his mother inside the family veranda in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni on Sunday afternoon.
The deceased's nieces and nephews also suffered severe injuries, but they survived and are back home.
The four children, aged between 5 and 11, were inside the house during the shooting, and caught shrapnel from the alleged shooting.
Nomayeza Amos, Sibusiso's visibly distraught mother, said she begged Ndlovu, a private security official who was with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD), not to shoot her son, who had retreated back into the house.
This followed an altercation the deceased had with Ndlovu over the alleged brutal manner in which the police were carrying out their monitoring operation as part of the 21-day national lockdown announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week Monday.
In court on Tuesday, Prosecutor Maria Fyfe said Ndlovu would face seven charges, which include one count of murder and four of the alleged attempted murder of the four children.
The other two charges are for the unlawful possession of ammunition and the illegal possession of a shotgun that he allegedly had no licence for.
Sontaga Seisa, spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), said an EMPD officer and private security official, Ndlovu, were initially arrested on Sunday.
However, only Ndlovu appeared in court on Tuesday.
Seisa said that, upon conferring with senior public prosecutor Henk Strydom, it was decided to release the EMPD officer in order for Ipid to go and strengthen its case against him.
"We don't know why (Ndlovu) was travelling with the EMPD (during the operation). We are also going to find the link between (Ndlovu) and the EMPD officer.
"We have released the EMPD officer. But remember, releasing him does not mean we can't arrest him again," Seisa said.
Ndlovu will be remanded at Katlehong police station until his next appearance on April 8.