MY SON HAD 4 BULLET WOUNDS – MUM

NHLANGANO – Siphesihle Dludlu, the man who was shot by police last Friday in Nhlangano, actually had four bullet wounds in his body, according to his mother, Sindi Dludlu in an interview yesterday.

Sindi said two of the wounds were in the waist, while another was slightly above the waist. The last one was in the shoulder, very close to the neck, which she believed was the one that killed him. Meanwhile, four days later, police have not visited the family of the deceased. Siphesihle (33) was shot dead by police at Nhlangano Bus Rank for allegedly being found in possession of dagga. According to Sindi, her son had gone to town to buy some groceries as he was the breadwinner.

Shooting

She said when she received the news of the shooting, she sent the deceased’s siblings to the police station to take his belongings. Sindi claimed that an officer, identified as Mahlalela, called her daughter later that day and she (Sindi) answered the phone.
She said the police officer apologised and acknowledged that the shooting of her son was a mistake. “He told me that the police officer who had shot my son would face the wrath of the law and to date, I have not heard of his arrest,” said Sindi. The troubled mother shared that her concern, which she also raised with the police officer, was how he decided to say all that over the phone as to the best of her knowledge; they were supposed to physically come to her home to convey their condolences. She said that the police officer claimed they did not know where the deceased was from. However, Sindi concluded this to be untrue.

She narrated that the only thing she was keen to know was when they would bury her son who was killed like a dog. “My child was shot like a dog and I had to ask when were they going to bury him and ngubani lotogubha umgodzi wakhe (cater for the expenses of the funeral),” said the mother. She said the response she got from the police officer was that they would address that at a later stage. She was requested to visit the morgue to identify her son and further collect the grocery items that he had bought.  On Saturday, family members of Siphesihle went to Nhlangano Police Station to seek answers on what he (Siphesihle) had done that warranted him to be shot. There was no clear response from the police except that the family was supposed to come back today to be addressed by the authorities.

Identify

It is said that a selected few went to identify the deceased at Nhlangano Health Centre, where his body is currently kept. That was when they found that there were in fact four bullet wounds in his body. Sindi further said she was worried that her child would rot further as the lower part of the corpse did not properly fit in the mortuary shelf. A post-mortem has been scheduled for tomorrow. When sought for comment on why the police had not visited the family, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said: “It’s a pity that in such cases, there gets to be many family members who surface and say different things but we are in constant communication with the mother of the deceased. We have opened a communication channel between her and the police, though we know she is not the only parent of the child.” Vilakati, when asked about the number of bullets wounds in the deceased’s body, she said anyone who had concerns was supposed to direct to the police, adding that she would not divulge such information to anyone else. The deceased left behind two children aged six and four.

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