Police to pay after innocent man shot in Soshanguve
A Soshanguve man’s Sunday morning outing with a friend to fetch his shoe which was being repaired ended with him being shot after he was mistaken by the police for a hijacker.
Octavious Rabothaba needed the shoe because he was going for a job interview the next day.
He subsequently instituted a damages claim against the police for the injuries he suffered.
He told the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, that he was walking home on April 22, 2018, in Soshanguve Block W when all hell broke loose. He heard shots being fired and ran to take cover.
The SAPS, in mistaking him for one of the men who had hijacked a car in Winterveldt that morning, claimed that he tried to evade arrest.
According to the police, they had followed a suspect, who was driving the car, to Soshanguve, and they knew exactly what he was wearing – jeans and a white T-shirt. So, when they saw Rabothaba, they thought they had their suspect.
In defending the fact that they had shot at him, the only witness for the police – the officer who actually fired the shot – claimed Rabothaba had pointed a firearm at him and wanted to shoot him.
Rabothaba, in turn, testified that he did not own a firearm.
He testified that on that fateful day and at the time that he was shot, he was in the company of his friend named only as Daniel, and they had gone to fetch his shoe from a shoemaker.
He had the shoe in a green and black bag that he was carrying, and had a litre of beer in one hand that he and his friend were sharing.
They heard gunshots, and they did not wait to see where the gunshots came from or who was shooting.
They ran away. It was during that commotion that he was shot, from behind, in his left thigh.
He denied that he was ever involved in any hijacking, let alone at Winterveldt that morning, where the hijacking happened. He stated that during the morning, he was at his home, and his mother sent him to the shops to buy her a packet of rice for her Sunday cooking.
Upon his return, he asked her for money in order to go and fetch his shoe.
Regarding the hijacking, he testified that he and his friend could not even drive, and they could not have driven the vehicle from Winterveldt, as claimed by the SAPS.
The constable, only identified as Gqulu, testified that they saw the hijacked vehicle that morning parked at a car wash in Soshanguve Block W.
According to him, three suspects got out of the car and ran away when they saw the police approaching.
He described the clothing worn by the suspects and stated that two of them wore black denims and white t-shirts.
They chased the suspects, and one of them, wearing black jeans and a white T-shirt, turned around four times while running and aimed a firearm at them.
The constable said he had no choice but to shoot.
It was stated and not challenged that the plaintiff was shot from the back, and this stood in contrast with a person who posed a danger to the shooter, Acting Judge MP Khumalo said.
He expressed serious doubts about the version of events as described by the SAPS and rejected their version.
The judge said several witnesses testified how they saw Rabothaba around that morning, including the shoemaker.
The bag containing the shoe was also found next to where he was shot.
The judge questioned how the SAPS could simply identify a person wearing jeans and a white T-shirt as their suspect as many people wore this type of clothing.
He ordered that the SAPS was liable to pay the victim whatever damages he could prove he had suffered as a result of being shot.
-Pretoria News
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