Daily Sun (February 7 2014) - HE CAME to the Vaal only eight days ago, looking for a job. Now Lerata Tladi has become the latest victim of the fierce service delivery protests sweeping Mzansi. HE WAS SHOT DEAD BY UNKNOWN GUNMEN!
Tladi (26) came job-hunting to the squatter camp of Boiketlong in the Vaal, south of Joburg, from his home in Ficksburg, Free State.
He was among hundreds of Boiketlong residents who brought Sebokeng to a standstill on Wednesday.
The protests saw another protester shot and injured and five others arrested for public violence.
Lerata was with a group near the Masoheng robot in zone 10, Sebokeng when gunshots were heard and he fell down wounded.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he later died.
Diphaphang Tladi, Lerata's cousin, told Daily Sun: "We are saddened by his death. The entire family is still trying to recover from the shock.
"He had only just arrived to look for work."
Diphaphang said Lerata was a good man who only wanted a better life for himself and his family.
Meanwhile residents yesterday barricaded busy Moshoeshoe Street demanding to speak to Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane or President Jacob Zuma about their needs for houses, water and electricity.
What began quietly quickly escalated into a full-on protest after shack dwellers again started gathering in numbers.
Members of the police public order policing unit fired rubber bullets to disperse them.
Several protesters were arrested and the situation remained tense, with a huge police contingent visible at the entrance of Boiketlong as evening fell.
Gauteng police spokesman Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng said an investigation into Lerata's death was under way.
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