The insurgent, armed with a hand grenade and an AK47, kept 17 vehicles of policemen at bay for about 10 minutes, shooting two who attempted to enter the house he was in, before falling in a volley of police gunfire. The insurgent has been identified as Phumelelo Mbanjwa of unknown age and address. The details of the shootout can be reported because it happened in the Ciskei which is not subject to the Emergency media regulations.
Residents of Zone 4, Section 74, of Mdantsane, in the Ciskei, scurried into their homes when a number of police vehicles arrived and a policeman with a loudhailer ordered them to stay indoors. Ten minutes later, the body of a policeman lay on the doorstep of the house, and two others – one a policeman, one the insurgent – lay sprawled in the yard. The incident started just after 11am yesterday morning.
l was in my house when I saw residents coming out of their houses and running down the street. I saw Ciskei securily force and riot unit vehicles speeding from Section 67 of Zone 4 lo a house a bout 100 m from my own, across a small rivulet. They surrounded the house, which belonged to Mazweni Bikitsha. I heard a policeman in an army vehicle ordering people through a loudhailer to remain in their houses. People went into their homes. He then ordered those in house number 7409 to come out. There was no response. Reinforcements arrived and surrounded the house. There were now about 17 vehicles around the concrete walls which enclosed the yard. A policeman went up to the door and knocked. Shots rang out and the policeman fell dead in the doorway. His colleagues ran for cover.
Later, a neighbour told me that the insurgent had opened a window and fired at the policeman. Minutes afterwards, another Ciskei policeman vaulted the wall. The man inside the house opened the door and shot him dead. Police returned fire. The insurgent threw a hand grenade towards an army vehicle in the street, but the object struck the wall in front of the house and exploded. Police dived for cover. The insurgent walked out into the yard, spraying AK47 volleys wildly. He walked slowly around the house. As he reached the corner of the house, police cut him down. More police reinforcements arrived, including a Casspir, which drove into the yard. Some policemen – including between three and five whites in plain clothes – entered the house.
I saw two bodies wrapped in a red bedspread being loaded into a van and taken away. Meanwhile, the Casspir moved to another house in the area, followed by a number of vehicles. They surrounded the house or a Mr Ngebulane and police ordered those inside to come out. When there was no response they started kicking the doors and breaking the windows.
A group of policemen entered, came out and returned to the scene of the shootout. The other boy lay in the yard for two hours. Police cordoned off the area for about three hours. By late afternoon, two police cars still stood outside the house, with its broken windows and the front door standing open. The kitchen door was broken and bullet holes could be seen on the front and side walls of the house. Blood was splashed on the doorstep and on the lawn where the bodies had lain. Residents who gathered nearby were told not to come nearer. They sfood around groups watching what was happening .
I saw the owner of the house, Mazweni Bikitsha, walking up the street. He was apprehended by the police and brought back to the house, where he was shown the insurgent’s body. Afterwards Bikitsha was taken away by police. By late afternoon he had not returned. The Commissioner of Police in the Ciskei, Brigadier General Monde Takane issued a statement saying a shootout had taken place between the Ciskei riot unit and suspected terrorists.
He said two members of the riot unit were fatally wounded and three sustained minor injuries. He said the police found two limpet mines, one Makarov pistol, two AK47 automatic assault rifles, some ammunition and explosives in the house. “Such people should be reported to the nearest police station chiefs, headmen and counsellors,” he said. Township residents should immediately inform their relevant authority.– Wellington Sangoisha
This article originally appeared in the Weekly Mail newspaper