Limpopo tycoon hopitalised after alleged assault

Well-known Limpopo businessman and philantropist Mr Robert Mukhwathi says he will never forget the nasty experience he had at the hands of the police.

Mukhwathi (34), of Makuya outside Thohoyandou, who built a house for a poor woman at Murangoni and another for an indigent old man at Ha-Makuya last year, was nursing his injuries and was in leg irons at the Tshilidzini Hospital when Mirror visited him to determine what had happened. He had sustained a cut in the head, injuries to his right hand and shoulder and had some swelling on his back.

Mukhwathi, who is also facing a charge of the pointing of a firearm, was at pains to narrate his nasty ordeal. He alleges that police assaulted him for no apparent reason and later took R25 000, a pistol and a 3G Internet modem from him, before returning his car keys.

Mukhwathi, who owns a bus and construction company, said he was on his way home from collecting takings from his transport business at Louis Trichardt on Saturday morning, when two cars tried to stop him. “I had hardly travelled more than 500m from town when I noticed a car with flashing lights trying to stop me, but did not see that it was the police,” he said.

He said that, fearing that they might be robbers, he did not stop as he had a substantial amount of money with him. “I drove as fast as I could as I feared that it could be thugs who wanted to rob me of my money and other belongings. When I reached Tshisahulu, I found that a roadblock had been set up and I stopped right there. Before I could figure out what was happening, I noticed that two cars had already closed me in. They ordered me to get out of my car, which I did,” he said.

He said five police officers came to him, pointing firearms at him, and after opening the door, one of the policemen hit him with the butt of a gun without uttering a word, while the other handcuffed him. He alleges that the police forced him to lie face down while kicking him with their boots.

He said that while he was still lying down there and the police were kicking him, he heard the voices of some onlookers who were protesting about what the police were doing. “I think that made the police stop assaulting me. They gave me my car keys and allowed me to go, but without my belongings. I went straight to the police station and tried to lay a charge,” he said.

According to him the police at Thohoyandou said he could not open a case before seeing a doctor, as he was bleeding. “I was at the hospital being attended to when a call came that some policemen who were working at the hospital should handcuff me and that I was under arrest. This surprised me a lot, because if there was something wrong on my part, they could have arrested me on the spot where they found me at the roadblock."

He said he suspected that their colleagues at Thohoyandou might have told them that he was opening a case against them and they were trying to cover up their mess.

He is very worried that it seems the police knew that he had money and they were just after it because, after taking the money, they could not find any reason to detain him and this is why they did not lock him up right there. “I now have a problem with the police. All along, I thought that they were there to safeguard us. I used to hear that there are cops who are also acting as thugs, but I never thought it would one day happen to me." He added that he will never trust a policeman again.

Limpopo police spokesperson Col Mohale Ramatseba said they had heard of the allegations. “A full investigation is underway, and if the allegations are true and our members are involved, steps will be taken,” he said. According to him, they have opened a case of resisting arrest, reckless or negligent driving and the pointing of a firearm against Mukhwathi.

Meanwhile, Mukhwathi said he had opened a case of theft in respect of his missing cash, malicious damage to property in respect of his broken phone and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He appeared in the Louis Trichardt Magistrate´s Court on Tuesday and was released on R500 bail.

He is scheduled to appear in court again on July 22.

News - Date: 01 July 2011

Email: