A decision on whether to prosecute three men arrested following the shooting of an ex-soldier outside former President Nelson Mandela’s home will be made on Thursday.
Western Cape director of public prosecutions Rodney de Kock was studying the police docket himself on Thursday morning, said directorate spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi.
Authorities have 48 hours from their arrests to charge the men, or free them. The first two were arrested around 5.30pm on Tuesday, and the third around 10pm, said national police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Selby Bokaba.
The docket was presented to the prosecuting directorate on Wednesday night. Former major George Makume was shot dead outside Mandela’s Bishopscourt home in Cape Town on Tuesday.
He had been demanding to see Mandela, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, or his successor Njongonkulu Ndungane. Police said Makume was shot after refusing to leave and pointing a gun at guards.
Two other people with Makume were apprehended at the scene. The third was arrested later arrested in Knysna in the Western Cape. According to Bokaba, the three men were all Capetonians and were not employed by the SA National Defence Force (SANDF).
Makume had been dismissed from the SANDF for ill-discipline after being absent without leave for three months. He was reportedly embroiled in a dispute with his former employers about his pension.
He was also wanted for the theft of military weapons — one of which was recovered at the scene of Tuesday’s shooting.
Free State police had offered a R30 000 reward on Monday for information on his whereabouts in connection with the robbery of four assault rifles and 120 rounds of ammunition from the Sasolburg Commando.
Makume had been granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for six offences ranging from weapons theft to attempted murder.
According to a TRC document, he was at various times a member of the African National Congress and the SA National Civics Organisation, but later switched to the Pan Africanist Congress because he found the ANC’s policies too moderate.
He joined the SANDF’s predecessor, the SA Defence Force, in the early 1990s to gather inside information and acquire military skills, but told the TRC the army was suspicious about his motives and attempts were made to frustrate him. – Sapa