Krugersdorp station commissioner to be suspended

The station commissioner of the Krugersdorp police station has been given a notice of intention to suspend him while the 'execution' of Khulekani Mpanza is investigated.

Acting national commissioner of police Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane told Parliament's committee on police the station commissioner was given the notice on Monday - the same time as the four officers allegedly involved in the killing received theirs while behind bars.

The four were arrested after the video footage came to light and were served their notices while in custody.

The station commissioner was handed the notice on the grounds that he would have known about the shooting before it was published on the front page of the Sunday Times.

The committee had demanded the urgent briefing after the video footage emerged showing a police officer shooting Mpanza while he lay on the pavement in Lewisham, Krugersdorp.

Other officers appear to stand by and do nothing.

The officers have already appeared in the Krugersdorp Magistrates' court.

Constable Dipuo Chipu, who is the only female officer among the accused, was granted R5 000 bail on a charge of defeating the ends of justice.

The other three remain behind bars and will face murder charges.

Phahlane said he sanctioned the steps taken against the officers because they could not wait until the Independent Police Investigative Unit (IPID) allowed its legal process to unfold.

When an officer receives a notice of intention to suspend him or her, they have a chance to motivate whether it should be with or without pay.

Robbie Raburabu, the deputy director for IPID in Gauteng, said what they know so far is that on October 19, at about 13:00, police responded to a robbery.

They later reported that there had been a shoot-out with one suspect fatally shot.

"When we viewed the footage we saw that, actually, this was an execution," said Raburabu.

They decided to authenticate the video that had been secured from the owner by police on October 20.

At first the person who had the footage did not want to co-operate but then he said the incident was as seen on the video.

"It was indeed confirmed that what the video shows [is] what the post mortem revealed."

However, he said they do not have a second video which is said to show Mpanza shooting at police.

He did not want to say more, because the investigation is still under way.

Source News 24