PAUL KIRK and NIKI MOORE, Durban | Friday 9.40am.
AFRICAN National Congress MP Bheki Mkhize, killed in a police raid on his home at Mahlabathini, near Ulundi, was shot through his open palm – an indication, say the provincial ANC leadership, that he was killed while trying to surrender.
While the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) was being unusually tight-lipped about its investigations this week, a top forensics expert sent by Minister of Safety and Security Steve Tshwete to assist the ICD is to help establish whether Mkhize was involved in a struggle.
Other strange circumstances of Mkhize’s death at the weekend have begun to filter out. Among unexplained events is why police – rather than identify themselves – used a teenage boy to wake Mkhize and summon him outside.
Realising that his home was surrounded by more than a dozen police, Mkhize is alleged to have placed his parliamentary identity card under the door to identify himself, then stepped outside.
Something happened and a single shot went off, killing him instantly. But although the police station is a 20-minute walk away, police took more than four hours to inform anyone of the shooting.
Police at Mahlabathini/Nongoma allege Mkhize was shot in self-defence after he dropped his revolver – bought recently for protection – and lunged for a policeman’s rifle.
Police claim they wanted to search his home for illegal guns, although they did not have a search warrant and found no unlicensed weapons. Earlier in the day the same police had confiscated two illegal weapons from another house and claim they were tipped off that there were weapons at Mkhize’s home as well.
This week investigators began trying to fit together the pieces of the puzzle. Statements have already been taken from witnesses, as well as Mkhize’s widow and police who were present at the scene.
After slamming through Mkhize’s open palm, the bullet smashed into his skull beneath his nose, instantly killing him.
Sophisticated forensics tests will enable investigators to establish how far away the rifle was from Mkhize’s hand when the shot went off. This, investigators say, will enable them to establish whether in fact Mkhize was involved in a struggle when the shot went off, or whether he was murdered while surrendering. Forensics tests will also establish if Mkhize’s revolver was fired and whether it was fired by him.
A well-placed source in the ICD said it is “very unlikely” that Mkhize, a known pacifist, would walk out with a five-shot revolver and attempt to take on 13 heavily armed police. “The story seems a little improbable,” said the source.
The provincial head of the ICD, Stix Mdladla, has confirmed only that it took four hours for his unit to be told of Mkhize’s killing.
Provincial police commissioner Moses Khanyile claims that legally the police did not need a search warrant. Police may search any premises without a warrant if the time taken in obtaining one would give the suspect time to conceal evidence.