Dan Fuphe

Dan Fuphe

The woman police constable shot during a clash with hostel dwellers in KwaThema, Springs, was yesterday in a critical but stable condition.

KwaThema police spokesman Captain Enoch Dube said yesterday that Constable Nolwandle Moeti, 24, had undergone a four-hour operation and was stable.

Moeti was shot in the head when a group of angry hostel dwellers, protesting against the disconnection of illegally connected electricity, opened fire on the police in KwaThema on Tuesday morning.

Captain Dube said four other people were taken to a local hospital to be treated for gunshot wounds.

The stand-off was ignited when Eskom employees tried to seal off a power station from which electricity was illegally connected.

Angry hostel inmates told Sowetan that they had been without electricity for more than 12 years.

"Police, who were escorting the Eskom employees, came under fire when a mob accosted them, demanding that they stop sealing off the power station.

"Police were engaging the mob in talks when a man fired a shot which struck Nolwandle," Dube said.