COMMENT

"Cops let my friend die!" - Daily Sun

The front page and lead story of SA's largest daily newspaper, October 17 2013

Daily Sun (October 17 2013) - IT BEGAN with a dispute over braai meat . . . David Mhlanga wanted to cook his own meat at a local shisa nyama - but one of the guys who worked there got angry and stabbed him in the heart! DAVID STAGGERED TO A PATROL CAR FOR HELP - BUT COPS IGNORED HIM! Instead of helping him, they reversed their car and let him fall, dying, to the ground. That's the accusation by a witness who took a picture of David's body at the scene and sent it to Daily Sun.

The People's Paper has been told the dispute began when David (28) who comes from Maputo, Mozambique, did not want his meat to be braaied by one of the guys who works at Tebza's Shisa Nyama in Tembisa, Ekuhuleni. This angered the cook, who slapped David and threw his meat on the ground.

David apparently washed and cleaned the meat and went back to the braai. This was when the worker pulled a knife and stabbed him. Wounded and bleeding, David staggered towards a police car and held on to it. But - according to the witness, who does not want to be identified - the two cops in the car reversed away from him, leaving him to fall to the ground.

"They watched as he breathed his last air on earth," said the witness.

Speaking to Daily Sun, hairdressing salon owner Julius Sithole (28), who worked with David, said he was called to the scene by some young boys. "It was after 8pm on Saturday and by the time I got there David was already dead. Sithole said he was upset after being told the cops did nothing to help. "They should at least have taken him to hospital," said Sithole.

Provincial cop spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said a suspect in the killing was brought to the police station by his father and will be appearing at Tembisa Magistrates Court.

He told Daily Sun: "The police allegedly went to the scene to buy food and came across the incident. The suspect had already fled.

"Any allegations of misconduct by the police will be investigated," Dlamini said. "If they are true, police will be charged with defeating the ends of justice as well as misconduct." Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward, he added.

See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....

The Daily Sun is South Africa's largest daily newspaper with an average circulation of 287 222 (Audit Bureau of Circulations 2nd Quarter 2013) and a readership of 5.7m (as per AMPS 2012ab). Its Facebook page can be accessed here. It can be followed on Twitter here. To find about advertising on the Daily Sun click here.

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