/ 8 June 2001

NAMIBIAN COP CHARGED WITH KILLING SA MAN

A Namibian policeman is to be charged with murder and attempted murder after shooting two South Africans, killing one and wounding the other. Namibian police representative Chief Inspector Hofni Hamufungu said charges had been laid against the policeman but declined to release his name. The policeman apparently opened fire last Thursday on Bloemfontein shop-fitter Manuel van der Merwe, killing him, and wounding his cousin Charlton Meyer. The shooting took place at Oshivo, a township near the Namibian-Angolan border town of Ruacana.Hamufungu said police noticed the men while they were entering a shop belonging to a South African discount chain store at about 10:00 pm on Thursday. He said the policeman suspected the men were thieves and kept their car under surveillance until they left the shop. “When they drove off one policeman tried stopping them and, when they did not stop, he opened fire on the vehicle after a warning shot,” Hamufungu said. He explained it was later established that the two men were there on bona fide business and thus the policeman has been charged. – AFP