Police officer accused of murdering man in Khayelitsha

Vuyokazi Sigonyela stands at the site where her 20-year-old son was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. Photo: Sandiso Phaliso

A mother in Khayelitsha is still looking for answers almost six months after her 20-year-old son was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer.

Vuyokazi Sigonyela says she has heard different versions of what happened on the night of 1 March, when her son Sesethu was shot by Dumisani Ndzabela, who lived on the same street as her son.

Ndzabela has since been charged with murder, but SAPS is not able to confirm whether he has been suspended or dismissed. He is rumoured to have been transferred to another police station. But spokesperson Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi referred our questions to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), which is investigating the case.

Phaladi Shuping, spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), said disciplinary processes against Ndzabela are ongoing and only the SAPS can respond to questions on the alleged transfer.

Shuping said that Sesethu and his friends are alleged to have sworn at Ndzabela and to have waved a gun at him.

Ndzabela then called other police officers to assist him in searching for Sesethu and his friends. Once they found them, Ndzabela allegedly “disarmed” one of his colleagues and shot Sesethu.

Ndzabela was arrested after an IPID investigation. He was granted R3,000 bail on 11 August and will appear in court again on 4 November.

Sesethu’s mother, Vuyokazi, says that the police officers refused to take her son to the hospital after he was shot, and that he could have been saved if he had received medical care.

She says that after the incident, Ndzabela visited the family and claimed that he had mistaken Sesethu for someone else. But two weeks later, other SAPS officers told a family member that they knew it was Sesethu and that he and his friends were suspects in a robbery.

“He can’t say it was a case of mistaken identity because he knows my family and we know his family. We live in the same neighbourhood,” said Vuyokazi.

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