Charges dropped against cops accused of killing Mthokozisi Ntumba

The Johannesburg high court has acquitted four police officers on charges of killing Mthokozisi Ntumba during a student protest in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, last year.

Judge Mawabo Malangeni said none of the state witnesses could identity either of the accused as the people who shot dead Ntumba on March 10 2021.

Malangeni said the state could not provide any credible evidence that warranted a conviction.

After the state concluded its case in March, the four accused — Tshepiso Kekana, 27, Cidraas Motseothatha, 43, Madimetja Legodi, 37, and Victor Mohammed, 51, — brought their application for discharge of the charges against them in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Such an application is made after the state has presented its case and the accused believe the state’s case is weak and there is no need for them to testify.

They had been charged with murder and attempted murder and pleaded not guilty. 

Ntumba, 35, was gunned down shortly after visiting his doctor for a consultation at MyClinic Health Care on De Beer Street.

The father of four was killed when police fired rubber bullets at University of the Witwatersrand students who were protesting against historic debt and demanding to be registered.

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