Daily Sun (February 2 2015) - UNAWARE OF the protest action going on around him, four-year-old Siyabonga was playing peacefully with his little friend from next door.
Then there was a blast from a riot gun, the boy looked up and a rock-hard rubber bullet slammed into his forehead just above his left eye. . .
A FEW CENTIMETRES LOWER AND THE BOY WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD.
A neighbour, Nozuko Madala (38) said she was outside her shack looking for her daughter who was playing with Siyabonga Gama when a police officer told me to go inside.
"I told him I was looking for my daughter but then he opened fire. Siyabonga was hit above the eye. He bled badly," she said.
Paramedics arrived, bandaged the boy and took him to hospital.
Thandeka Gama (23), the boy's shocked and angry mother, who was at work when her son was shot, told Daily Sun yesterday she wants to sue the police.
"I want to know what happened. They must find out why my boy was shot. I want them to pay for their actions," she said.
She said Siyabonga was coping well in hospital.
The boy was caught in the firing line when SAPS officers fired at stone-throwing protesters on Saturday in Diepsloot, north of Joburg.
He was sitting outside the gate of their house in Diepsloot, extension 1.
The police action followed an attempted land grab by a group of people, some with zinc sheets and poles ready to build shacks.
The SAPS, along with the public order policing unit, the tactical response team and the JMPD, soon arrived.
Police explained to the group that the land on the side of the R511 was privately owned.
Diepsloot EFF chairman Andrew Maila told Daily Sun members of the group barricaded Ingwenyama Road with burning
tyres and other objects.
He said the police must produce title deeds to prove ownership of the land.
Maila said they would not disrupt business but said the EFF was there to take the land and give it to the people.
Warrant Officer Daniel Mavimbela said: "A 36-year-old male was arrested and charged with public violence and is expected to appear in the Randburg Magistrates Court soon."
He said the situation was under control but shop owners were advised to close until the situation was normal.
"A four-year-old boy is receiving medical treatment for an injury he sustained on the upper body. The cause is being investigated," he said.
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