Mayor defends officers charged with shooting at informal car washers in Mthatha

On 30 June, seven municipal law enforcement officers were doing their rounds in Mthatha when they were approached by a group of car washers who wanted to wash their vehicles.

In Mthatha, the seat of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality, it is illegal to wash cars on the streets. In the past few months law enforcement officials have been patrolling the streets to enforce this by-law, and this morning they were busy with their duties as part of a campaign to clean up the city’s streets.

Mthatha has been under siege from crime, including extortion and robberies. 

In a strong defence of the officers on Friday morning, Mayor Nyaniso Nelani has called for an urgent meeting with the police over the arrests, saying that he believes it is part of a “pushback from individuals of influence and power” in the region.

The mayor said that the seven officials were conducting patrols to enforce the by-law prohibiting car washing on public streets. The officers were then approached by a group of men with buckets who wanted to wash their cars. When the officers made it clear that they were there for by-law enforcement and explained that it was illegal to wash cars in the streets, the men, Nelani claimed, ambushed the officers, hitting them with their buckets and fists. One of the officers was stabbed in the chest, but he was wearing a bulletproof vest and did not get hurt.

Nelani claimed that the officers retaliated by shooting at the men.

Released on bail

He pledged his backing to the officials and said they had returned to their jobs after being released on bail. 

Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Mkholi confirmed that seven accused persons were released on bail of R1,000 each, after they were charged for attempted murder, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and defeating the ends of justice, following their arrest on Friday, 13 September 2024. 

“The seven accused persons were linked to the incident of shooting that occurred on 30 June 2024 in Mthatha. The case was postponed to Friday, 13 December 2024,” he added.

Mthatha has been in the grips of gun violence for months now, and on 4 September 2024 self-styled traditional leader for the Mthatha West area Sakhumzi Mareke (42) was gunned down by members of the National Intervention Unit after he and three men confronted them at their own police base in the city. According to a police officer, Mareke and his men arrived at the police base and started shooting at officers. All of them were killed. One police officer was shot.

Two days later a warrant officer attached to the National Intervention Unit was shot at by a gunman who approached him on foot. This suspect was also arrested. 

Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola visited the Mthatha area two weeks ago and said that more members of the National Intervention Unit would be sent there as the criminals in the area were “brazen and determined” and operated with “absolute arrogance”. DM