A student had dropped out of college and relocate back home to North West after he was shot and injured by police during the fatal student protest in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, last year.

The Johannesburg Institute of Engineering and Technology (JIET) student Lefa Masiu, 18, was testifying on Tuesday at the South Gauteng High Court during trial of four police officers accused of shooting and killing Mthokozi Ntumba during the protest.

Masiu said he was shot while waiting near the pavement outside the college with his classmates.

“I was done with my classes for the day and was waiting for the bus with a friend going home to Brixton [Johannesburg]. I saw Wits University students protesting on the other streets and they were running, screaming and coming in our direction,” said Masiu.

“When they arrived at our college they stood in front of us and started talking. Some of them were wearing red EFF T-shirts. Then a police armoured vehicle came. The police came and, without warning, just opened fire at us. I was shot on my right hand and upper body.”

He then ran into the corridors of the college along with other students. He was later taken to Netcare Gardens City Hospital in Mayfair.

Masiu said after the incident he could not complete his studies.

“I dropped out of school after that situation. I did not feel safe in Johannesburg. I came to study in Johannesburg living far away from my mother in Klerksdorp,” said Masiu.

Earlier, another student from the JIET, Nikiwe Rasmeni, 22, told the court that the shooting left her with two wounds in her back.

“I was bruising and swelling. My T-shirt had two holes on it and my jeans were stained with blood,” said Rasmeni. 

Officers Tshepiso Kekana, 27, Cidraas Motseothatha, 43, Madimetja Legodi, 37, and Victor Mohammed, 51, face charges of murder and three counts of attempted murder and have pleaded not guilty.  

The trial continues.