Pupil shot at protest wins damages suit against SAPS
A morning assembly protest about a school’s state of decay led to police shooting a pupil, which resulted in a damages claim against the SAPS, reports The Star.
Siphelele Totseka sued Minister of Police in the Eastern Cape High Court (Mthatha), claiming damages for the assault.
He testified that he was a grade 10 learner at Madala Senior Secondary School in 2019 when the incident occurred. The pupils assembled for prayer and initiated a protest concerning the dilapidated state of the school.
The protest proceeded outside the premises and along the N2, blocking traffic in both directions.
Police teargassed the pupils and they ran inside the school yard where they continued protesting. While they were singing, a police vehicle arrived.
Totseka said he decided to leave as he felt uncomfortable with the way the protest was progressing. As he was exiting the school yard, he saw a police officer at a distance of approximately 15 paces pointing a firearm in his direction.
He heard a gunshot.
He called for help and a teacher, Vuyani Qalashe, assisted him as he was bleeding from his arm.
Totseka identified a constable Velembo as the man who shot him. Velembo denied firing a shot and allegedly refused to call an ambulance. Totseka was eventually taken to hospital by the teacher.
A doctor confirmed the bullet hole in the plaintiff ’s right arm and a fracture of the humerus in the right arm.
Velembo testified that he went to the school along with another officer after hearing about the protest.
According to The Star, he described the scene as chaotic, with students throwing stones at road users. He said he heard gunshots, however, he did not see where they were coming from.
Velembo said he was mistakenly identified as the shooter.
He testified that he would never shoot a student under such circumstances. He claimed it was the Public Order Police Squad who fired the shot.
The court accepted the evidence regarding the events and said empty cartridges at the scene established a reasonable inference that the police officer shot the Totseka.
The SAPS was held liable for damages, which will be determined at a later stage.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
