Police ‘shoot and kill’ unarmed man in Ceres

(Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

By Vincent Cruywagen

18 Jan 2021

A mother says she watched as police allegedly pepper-sprayed and beat her unarmed son with a pole before shooting and killing him.

Siena Pieterse is reeling after she alleges her unarmed son was shot and killed by police just metres from her, inside their home.

On Tuesday 12 January at around 11pm Pieterse’s son Reginald, 23, got into a heated argument with his 18-year-old sister Genevieve at their home in Hector Peterson Street, Prince Alfred in Harlem, Phase 4 near Ceres.

When her brother threatened to hurt her, the teen called the police. But when the police arrived, says Pieterse, all hell broke loose:

A devastated Siena Pieterse said the police took away her breadwinner after they allegedly shot and killed her son Reginald Pieterse on Tuesday, 12 January. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

“About six police vans and two police cars pulled up at our house in Hector Peterson Street. My son was sitting next to a shack outside our house busy cleaning a bucket when officers walked up to him. They didn’t ask him any questions and just sprayed pepper spray into his eyes.

“My son ran into the house with the police chasing him. I don’t know how many police officers were inside our house. They continued using pepper spray and tear gas in our house where my seven-year-old boy and a disabled person in a wheelchair were in,” she said.

The mother said through the chaos she ended up on her bed and could see a police officer pressing her son against the wall next to the front door.

Siena Pieterse and her daughter Rashieda Pieterse said they will never forget the chaos that erupted in their house. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

I saw another police officer standing with a pole in his hand outside the front door. I saw this police officer pulling my son outside and hitting my son with the pole. I didn’t see who shot my son, but I heard two shots.”

She ran outside and saw her son on the ground with two bullet wounds in his neck.

She said forensic personnel told her they’d discovered a third bullet hole in her son’s back. The next morning she found another bullet cartridge on the scene and a police badge was also found in her home.

Siena Pieterse said her son was allegedly shot and killed by police close to their front door. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

“My son wasn’t a gangster. He didn’t provoke the police, so why did they use all this force to assault my son and eventually shot and killed him metres away from me? They have taken away my breadwinner. My son was collecting scrap to help put food on our table. The police officer who had allegedly shot and killed my son must be arrested, charged and sent to jail,” she said.

Phase 4 is one of the most impoverished parts of Harlem. Residents told Maverick Citizen that drug and alcohol abuse is rife and many people are unemployed. But residents are adamant that the police had stepped over the line and that the officer who fired the fatal shot should be immediately suspended and arrested.

A police badge was left at the scene after police allegedly fired pepper spray and shot and killed Reginald Pieterse. (Photo: Vincent Cruywagen)

When approached for comment, police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said: “Kindly be advised that the investigation is the responsibility of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).”

Ndileka Cola, IPID’s national spokesperson, confirmed that the incident had been reported to IPID and that the directorate was investigating a death as a result of police action. DM/MC

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