Family of Philippi man shot by police say they waited five hours for ambulance

The family of a man shot while trying to connect electricity to his shack in Cape Town say they had to wait five hours for an ambulance and were not allowed by police to approach him as he lay dying.

Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is probing the death of Mhlangabezi Skeyi from Ramaphosa informal settlement in Philippi, who was shot on 10 May.

Skeyi and five others were trying to fix their illegal electricity connection at an electricity box when Skeyi was shot by police, according to witnesses.

When the police arrived, the other men ran away but Skeyi was shot.

Skeyi’s brother Fezile told GroundUp: “My brother and five other men had gone just outside the informal settlement to connect electricity when the police approached them. They all ran and police chased after them and they managed to catch my brother. The police shot him dead, which we don’t understand because if police had suspected him of wrongdoing they were supposed to have arrested him.”

He said police had not called an ambulance and had prevented family members from approaching Skeyi. “He was lying there, breathing and should an ambulance have been called he would not have died,” said Fezile Skeyi. The family tried to call an ambulance but were told they would have to go to the police station, because ambulances in Philippi are escorted by the police, and they would have to accompany the ambulance to the area. The ambulance came five hours later, Fezile Skeyi said.

Meanwhile, family members claim police officers prevented them from approaching Skeyi. “I don’t understand why we were not allowed to see him,” said his wife Misokuhle Skeyi. She said she had tried numerous times to go to him but police had prevented her and threatened her.

Residents of neighbouring Hazeldene say illegal connections made by residents of Ramaphosa cause their electricity to trip many times a day.

One man who was part of the group connecting the electricity that night and who did not want to provide his name, told GroundUp: “One of the Hazeldene residents had called the police on us, and when we saw them we ran. But the deceased was not so lucky, the police caught him. We just don’t understand why they shot and killed him.”

Mhlangabezi Skeyi was shot dead on 10 May while trying to connect electricity illegally to his shack. (Photo: supplied)