Lockdown: Langa man shot dead after police threatened with knife during chase - IPID
31 March 2020
A man was shot dead by police after he allegedly charged at officers with a knife during a chase through Langa in Cape Town during the lockdown, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) said on Tuesday.
The directorate was shedding more light on the circumstances around three deaths associated with police action, while IPID has been asked to investigate, during the coronavirus lockdown.
"Police were pursuing a suspected vehicle which drove into Langa township," IPID spokesperson Sontaga Seisa said.
He said the occupants stopped, got out of the vehicle, and charged at the police with a knife.
"The police retaliated and fatally shot the deceased," said Seisa.
This is understood to have happened on Sunday.
Vosloorus and Ravensmead deaths
IPID is also investigating the killing of a man in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, on Sunday.
This occurred while police were enforcing Covid-19 lockdown regulations that relate to the ban on the sale of alcohol, and the order that bars must close.
Seisa said police tried to arrest people at a tavern, but some in the tavern and in the immediate area turned and attacked them.
Police then fired rubber bullets.
"It is further alleged that the deceased was followed up to his veranda home, where he was fatally shot at," said Seisa.
Children - aged 5, 6 and 11-year-old twins - were among the injured who were taken to a nearby medical facility for treatment.
An 34-year-old Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officer and a 45-year old civilian - understood to be a private security officer - were arrested and would appear in the Boksburg Regional Court on Tuesday.
In another incident, the death of a man in Ravensmead Cape Town, is also being investigated.
The Daily Voice reported that the man had been out to buy beer, when he was tasered, allegedly by police, and collapsed and died when he returned home.
Rape case
There have been no arrests yet in connection with the shootings in Langa and in Ravensmead.
IPID is also investigating a complaint of rape after a woman was locked in her house by her police officer husband between 8 and 28 March, and repeatedly raped. This took place in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape.
