Masoka Dube

Masoka Dube

A Mpumalanga police officer is under investigation for murder because he shot and killed a wanted robber.

Question Mabaso, 27, allegedly threatened to shoot the policeman and his colleagues but the constable said he shot Mabaso before he could pull the trigger.

Mabaso, who was wanted in connection with six armed robberies, was arrested at a sangoma's house in Magogeni, near Malelane, on Friday after a tip-off.

Inspector Thulane Mnisi said yesterday that the suspect was asleep when the police arrived and did not resist arrest . He was taken to his house in Driekoppies.

"He asked us not to hurt him and said he would show us what he had stolen and his firearms," Mnisi said.

Mabaso started searching and eventually took out a firearm. One of the officers shot him once in the stomach.

"He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead," Mnisi said.

The Independent Complaints Directorate's spokesman, Dikeledi Phiri, said: "The police have the right to shoot when their lives are in danger but we will investigate this killing."