KZN police often get their targets right when it comes to their shoot-outs with criminals.
It seems the police might have made a serious mistake this time.
Reports suggest the four men they fatally shot in Durban on Thursday, 20 March, are not extortionists or wanted suspects, as claimed.
KZN police released a statement on the same day.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Magwaza said four men, allegedly involved in robbery, murder, and extortion, were killed in a shootout along Dumisani Makhaye Drive.
However, the families of the victims, namely Nathi Biyela (40), Nicolas Biyela (41), Sanele Ntuli (25), and Nhlakanipho Ntuli (31), dispute these claims.
They claimed that the police have wrongly accused their loved ones.
Family spokesman Zamokuhle Biyela told Daily Sun they had valid reasons for rejecting the police's narrative.
He said the victims were Community Policing Forum (CPF) members at KwaMashu Hostel.
“They were leaders who fought against crime and eradicated it. They never had cases opened against them.”
Zamokuhle pointed out inconsistencies in the police's account, saying they were returning from a meeting on the day of the shooting.
He said some cops were even present at that meeting.
“If they were truly wanted, why weren’t they arrested there?
“From what we’ve heard from witnesses, they never fired any shots at the cops. Instead, police stopped them and asked them to get out of the car. They then searched them. Now, how can people who were forced to the ground suddenly shoot at cops? That doesn’t make sense. The cops shot them. They took them into the car, and shot them one by one,” he claimed.
Zamokuhle claimed there were threats directed at the men due to a project scheduled in the hostel.
“We suspect that someone paid cops to shoot them as they were returning from the meeting. Now they're lying as they claim that they were wanted suspects."
He also revealed that Nicolas had previously survived an assassination attempt.
“As families, we are unhappy about this shooting, and we see a lot of loopholes in this matter. We have reported the matter to Ipid, and hopefully, they will get to the bottom of this. Even the guns they found on them were licenced,” Zamokuhle claimed.
However, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokeswoman Lizzy Suping said: “The case has been registered with Ipid, and our preliminary investigation on this matter has begun.”
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