A member of the VIP protection team of KwaZulu-Natal social welfare minister Meshack Radebe appeared briefly in the Camperdown Magistrate’s Court on eight attempted murder charges on Monday.
Constable Hlanganani Nxumalo (28) was told he would remain in custody until his next court appearance on November 19.
Nxumalo, of the Alexandra Road police barracks in Pietermaritzburg, allegedly shot the tyre of a Mazda on the N3 near Camperdown on Saturday morning. The driver lost control of the car, veered into oncoming traffic and collided with a bakkie. There were six people in each car. Eight of them were injured.
On Monday Nxumalo silently faced a barrage of press photographers. His light brown shoes were without laces and he was handcuffed as soon as he left the dock. No evidence was led as the state needed time to investigate the charges against him.
Police spokesperson Superintendent Henry Budhram said a black Mazda that was heading towards Durban on Saturday morning was being followed by a police collision-unit vehicle, when a black Volkswagen Golf with flashing blue lights sped up behind them.
The police vehicle pulled over to allow the Golf to pass, but ”at that moment the driver of the Mazda could not pull over as he was passing a truck”.
Budhram said that it is alleged that when the Mazda had then passed the truck and pulled over, a passenger in the Golf opened one of the tinted windows and shot at the tyre of the Mazda.
”The driver of the Mazda lost control and his vehicle went into the oncoming traffic colliding with a bakkie in the north-bound lane.”
He said that the Golf sped off and the police’s collision-unit vehicle could not catch up with it and the officers decided to render assistance to the injured.
There were six people in the Mazda and six in the bakkie, eight of whom were injured. The police’s dog unit recovered a spent cartridge from the highway. – Sapa