Tangeni Amupadhi
A string of extraordinary coincidences surrounds the death of Josiah ”Fingers” Rabotapi, one of South Africa’s most industrious criminals, who was shot dead by police in a Sandown flat on Tuesday.
Black officers charged with tracking Rabotapi – who was on the run after escaping from custody – were sent to search for another suspect moments before the shooting.
They were sent away at the entrance to the Sandown block of flats, and Rabotapi was taken upstairs by three white officers.
Police representative Senior Superintendent Sharon Schtte confirmed the black members of Operation Mafuta, a team of 10 policemen established last month to hunt down Rabotapi and alleged heist- gang leader Collin Chauke, were not present at the time of the shooting.
An independent inquiry has been launched amid strenuous denials from the police that Rabotapi was executed.
Five shots were fired at the notorious gangster, who allegedly drew a gun on the three policemen in the bedroom of the flat.
The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) was only allowed access to the flat more than 15 hours after the shooting. The watchdog this week suggested that vital evidence could have been lost during this unexplained delay. The scene would ”not be very helpful”, said an angry representative for the ICD, Shadrack Mahlangu.
The ICD has recruited an independent ballistics expert and a private pathologist to help run the probe. It is understood preliminary ballistics tests will be available within days.
There are suspicions in police ranks that Rabotapi might have been eliminated to stop him implicating several top officers in collusion with organised crime.
Although sought on 39 cases – including murder and armed robbery – Rabotapi has never been convicted. He has escaped from custody on numerous occasions.
Rabotapi allegedly lived under police protection while on the run, and was seen in the company of policemen believed to have been in his pay.
Schtte says: ”These are very serious allegations that the police purposefully shot him. Anyone with such information must take it to the ICD. I cannot comment on speculation.”
Police say Rabotapi was lured to a house in Dobsonville on Tuesday. After his arrest he ”volunteered information to the police about his hideout, that there was another suspect, R49 000 in cash and an AK-47,” says Schutte.
When they arrived at the flat Rabotapi gave them the keys and they went to investigate while he remained in the car. Rabotapi then told them the suspect was in Sandton City and the black policemen were sent there.
The three remaining policeman took Rabotapi to the flat to search it. They agreed to move his handcuffed hands from his back to his front after he complained of pain.
Police say in the bedroom, while the three policeman searched near the headboard, Rabotapi, who was at the foot of the bed, reached for a gun in a sportsbag and aimed at them. They reacted by firing at him. He was shot in the chest and head.
A senior ballistics expert said this week police were trained to fire two shots at a time so the fact that five bullets were fired did not rule out a justifiable case of self-defence. Police have yet to disclose how many officers fired at Rabotapi.
His cousin, Thabo Rabotapi, scoffed at the police version of events. ”The story that he was reaching for a gun is just a fabrication. It is not possible that he wanted to shoot them.”
Thabo Rabotapi says he arrived at his flat 20 minutes after the shooting but police barred him from entering and did not even tell him what had happened. He was allowed in three hours later.
Police claim they tried unsuccessfully to contact the ICD shortly after the incident, using their radio communications.
One of the officers involved in the Rabotapi killing was accused of murdering a suspect at the Soweto murder and robbery unit’s offices in 1990.
Superintendent Henry Beukes was acquitted of murder three years later, the judge attributing the death to self-defence. The victim’s family alleged he was suffocated to death with a tube in the swimming pool at the unit’s offices. But Beukes said when he caught the suspect after a chase, a fight ensued in the pool and he died.
Rapotapi’s shooting also bears a striking resemblance to the killing in 1994 of David Selepe, suspected of being the Cleveland serial killer.
Two police officers took Selepe to a rubbish dump to point out graves of his alleged victims. Police then removed the handcuffs so that he could show them the graves. He allegedly tried to attack the officers and they shot him.
Rabotapi has taken many secrets with him to the grave. Among them is how he always managed to escape from police clutches. Gauteng provincial police representative Azwinndini Nengovhela says: ”After he was arrested it was our hope that he would reveal how he escaped. We hoped he was going to be the one to spill all the beans. Unfortunately he was killed before he could do that.”
At the time of his death, ”Fingers” was facing 39 charges: 17 for murder, 22 armed robberies involving R82- million, one rape and three escapes.