Stuart Hess
TWENTY members of the elite police reaction unit in KwaZulu-Natal stand accused by family members of murdering a 23-year-old Inanda man who was shot as he lay sleeping in bed with his girlfriend.
The family of Thulani Nzuza say the group of uniformed officers burst into the house in the early hours of Monday, August 13 1996, and shot Nzuza.
His girlfriend, Xolile Simelane, has gone into hiding, fearing that she may become a victim herself. Simelane has given the family the name of one policeman she says was involved in the shooting.
“They wanted to take Xolile away but we wouldn’t let them because we thought they might kill her,” said Sithembiso Nzuza, Nzuza’s brother.
The case, which was originally investigated by the Inanda police, was taken over by members of the Complaints Investigation Unit in Durban after the original investigating officer allegedly told the family the case was too “big” for him.
“The reaction unit are racist, they ride around in police vans and they kill anyone,” said Sibongile Nzuza, Nzuza’s aunt .
Simelane told the Mail & Guardian police burst into the house and shot her boyfriend, injuring him in the chest. “He was still asleep and had no time to wake up before they shot him.” After the alleged shooting, the police officers allegedly pulled Simelane out of the room and locked her up with the rest of the family, leaving her boyfriend injured and alone with the police for the next three hours. The family say during this period they heard five more shots.
Police have countered that they were looking for Thulani for the illegal possession of an AK-47. They say that Nzuza fired at them first, and that they acted in self defence. They add that they found an unlicensed .38 pistol under Xolile’s pillow. Roy Ainslie, an African National Congress member of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature, believes Nzuza was killed because he was a key member of the ANC in the area.
‘My view is they saw the posters of Mandela and Hani on Nzuza’s wall and went mad. One must remember there are fairly conservative units operating in KwaZulu-Natal.”
The family’s former legal representative who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said he had considered taking the case to the provincial police commissioner. “I am getting no help from the police on the matter,” he added. He said he suspected the police “may have swept the matter away”, had the family not brought the case to his attention.
KwaZulu-Natal police representative Vishnoo Naidoo said: “A case of attempted murder is also being investigated against the deceased.” Naidoo said there were only nine police officers at the house that morning, and not 20 as the family claim.
Nzuza’s family said two cartridges were found in the dead man’s mattress a week later.
A murder docket has been opened in connection with Nzuza’s death in Durban.