By Adam Withnall
A video has emerged in South African which appears to show police officers executing a robbery suspect as he lies wounded and unarmed on the ground.
In CCTV footage obtained by South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper, police can be seen kicking and fatally shooting the suspect after he has already been disarmed.
South African media have identified the suspect as Khulekani Mpanza, and said he had earlier fired at police while attempting an armed robbery. Officers chased him from the scene to the point where he was killed on the pavement in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg.
A murder investigation has been launched against a police constable accused of shooting Mpanza multiple times as he lies wounded. In the video, the gun Mpanza used in the attempted robbery can be seen lying out of reach on the ground.
A police Sergeant who appears to kick the suspect after he has been shot, as well as other members of the unit, could also face action from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) for failing to stop the shooting or assist the dying man.
According to the Sunday Times, 32-year-old Mpanza attempted to rob a hardware store in the Krugerdorp suburb of Lewisham on the afternoon of 19 October.
Police, reportedly acting on a tip-off, were waiting in a van a short distance away. A witness told the newspaper Mpanza loitered for a short time near the door of the shop then walked out and fired around eight shots at the van before fleeing.
None of the officers involved in the shooting have been suspended, and Krugersdorp police told reporters they would await “word from Ipid” before taking any action.
The African News Agency quoted police Lt Gen Lesetja Mothiba as saying any police officers who acted unlawfully would be prosecuted.
A spokesperson for Ipid, Robbie Raburabu, told the Times that Mpanza’s postmortem showed he sustained three gunshot wounds, to his arm, head, and chest. “It’s very difficult to get witnesses in such cases. We were very lucky to get this footage,” he said.
culled from www.independent.co.uk
