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Rescue workers stand close to the body of the 28-year-old Justice Mulaudzi, who was shot dead last Wednesday by police constables.
Still awaiting decision on Mulaudzi’s death
News Date: 05 April 2013
The investigation into the alleged misconduct of two police constables following the death of a suspect they tried to apprehend is completed.
A case of murder was opened against one constable from the SAPS in Makhado (Louis Trichardt), following the fatal shooting of the 33-year-old Mr Justice Mulaudzi in August last year. Mulaudzi was shot in the head during an altercation with the constable near the railway crossing in Grobler Street.
According to the police, two female constables were on routine patrol when they spotted Mulaudzi and noticed that he seemed to be under the influence of alcohol. They stopped and tried to question him about it. Mulaudzi allegedly refused to be questioned and, when ordered into the back of the patrol vehicle, he lost his temper and became aggressive. He then allegedly snatched one of the constables' service pistol and threatened to shoot them with it. A struggled ensued in which Mulaudzi was shot.
At first, the Makhado SAPS opened an inquest docket regarding Mulaudzi’s death. Soon afterwards, however, the charge was changed to murder when the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IDIP) got involved in the investigation.
A spokesperson for the IDIP, Mr Moses Dlamini, said last year that the results of the investigation would be made known and that they were waiting on a post mortem, as well as a ballistic report, before closing the investigation. This investigation was, however, delayed as a result of the much-publicised Marikana shooting and Lonmin strike in Rustenburg that also happened in August last year. Two policemen and 34 striking miners were killed in this incident, about a week after Mulaudzi’s death.
In the meantime, rumours surfaced that the Mulaudzi case was being swept under the rug and that his post mortem report had gone missing. Dlamini refuted these claims. He confirmed last week that the investigation had been completed and that “all outstanding technical reports have been obtained.” According the Dlamini, the IDIP will know in about two weeks’ time whether the matter will go to court. This is because the senior public prosecutor had yet to make a decision whether to prosecute or not.
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Written by
Isabel Venter
Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.
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