Police did not record the shooting that led to the death of Mthokozisi Ntumba on the day the incident occurred.

This is evidence heard in the Johannesburg high court on Monday in the trial against four police officers accused of killing Ntumba during a student protest over historic debt in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, on March 10 last year. 

Ntumba, 35, was gunned down outside MyClinic Health Care where he had just consulted a doctor. 

Officers Tshepiso Kekana, 27, Cidraas Motseothatha, 43, Madimetja Legodi, 37, and Victor Mohammed, 51, face charges of murder and three counts of attempted murder.

They have pleaded not guilty.

Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) investigating officer Judy Thwala testified that commanders of the public order policing unit that was operating on the day of the incident were not aware that their police vehicle and members were involved in the shooting.

Thwala said when she arrived at the scene of the crime on the day of the incident she found six white cartridges next to Ntumba’s body.

“Upon my arrival at the scene, the officer (on duty at Hillbrow police station who reported the shooting) informed me that police shot students from the Johannesburg Institute of Engineering and Technology (a college situated adjacent to MyClinic Health Care in Braamfontein) and the students were taken by ambulance to hospital. He also informed me that an innocent bystander was lying on the pavement.

“It was an African male lying on the pavement facing up. He was later identified to me as Mthokozisi Edwin Ntumba. There were six cartridges lying next to him… I then obtained video footage from the clinic of the doctor who examined the deceased before he left his surgery. I viewed the footage in the doctor’s office,” said Thwala.

She said police officers from the local criminal record centre arrived at the scene to take pictures of the scene, body and collected cartridge cases.

“After the scene was cleared, I went to Bertha Street [in Braamfontein] to approach the public order policing unit that had an operation on the day. I inquired about the police officers who were involved in a shooting. Capt Moeketsi [Busisiwe] and Capt Shange [Mkhanyiseli] who are the commanders of the policing unit told me they were not aware of any police involved in a shooting.

“They said they suspect it is security officers or metro police involved in the shooting. I told them I viewed the footage and it shows SAPS members and a police nyala. We then made an appointment for them to view the footage the following day,” said Thwala. 

She said Shange identified the nyala as the vehicle used on the day of the incident and he identified four police officers in uniform with their names.

“He mentioned four names of the officers and I wrote them down. They were surprised to see the nyala with members they know. I then requested an occurrence book from the police.

“An occurrence book is a book of the police that they use to record incidents that happen during the day of their operations. I requested this book because Capt Shange and his colleagues were not aware of the incident.

“I found that there was no report regarding the incident but on the 12th of March [2021], three days after the incident, there was an entry made by W/O Mohammed [Victor] but there was no specification where the incident happened,” said Thwala.

The trial is expected to resume today with Thwala on the stand.