A shooting incident more than two years ago at a Transnet depot in which two security guards were allegedly shot at and injured by police and a senior Transnet security official remains unsolved.
Given the lack of progress in the case, the victims believe police are covering up the incident to protect their members and the Transnet official who led the operation.
“This entire matter gives one the idea that these people are untouchable. No-one, not even our employer [private secutiy company and Transnet contractor] Afri Guard, Transnet and the police have acted despite [us] being nearly killed,” said one of the guards.
The guards, Onke Mdabazo and Mbuyiseni Makhoba, said they were on duty and shot in the incident while attempting to run to safety at the freight rail depot in Natalspruit in the early hours of September 15 2022.
“We were in an area we were required to patrol within the perimeters of the site, and there had been no reports of any trouble. We were also not informed of any operation,” said Mdabazo.
“We heard what sounded like a drone above us, and we saw several car lights in the yard. We used our radio to ask the security supervisor, who was also on site, if he was aware of anything. He informed us it was Transnet vehicles, and said he would get more information and come back to us.”
Mdabazo continued: “Later on, just after 1am, we saw a group of people making their way towards us, and while we were discussing what to do, shots rang out and we took cover. Makhoba got up and started running away from these people, and he fell down and I realised he was hit.
“I returned fire while trying to make my way towards him, but I was hit in the arm I used to shoot with, and immediately dropped. They continued firing and eventually stopped when they realised there was no more return fire.”
Mdabazo said they eventually made it to their supervisor’s vehicle, where police and the Transnet security confirmed they had been shooting at them.
“When I asked [the depot manager] why he shot us, he said he thought we were thieves. I then said to him, ‘How can you think we are thieves when you as security manager have deployed us to be there? His response was that we should be thankful that we are not dead; we are lucky.”
The guards spent about 10 days recovering at a private hospital in Alberton and later discovered there was no official report about the incident. “We were shown the occurrence book [at Alberton SAPS] for that date and days after, and there was nothing from the Natalspruit yard, even though police were involved and had fired their weapons. That was when we opened our own case with the police,” Mdabazo said.
Efforts to follow up on an internal investigation by Transnet and the attempted murder case have proved fruitless, he said.
Mr Kerrs was contacted several times to write a statement but he never did, and our case was returned from court [by the public prosecutor] because the statement of the accused is not on the docket
— Mbuyiseni Makhoba, guard
This, they believe, was because the bullets that injured them came from people who were supposed to be on the same side as them — Transnet senior protection officer Lazarus Kerrs, who is also the depot manager, and two unnamed SAPS Rapid Rail Police Unit (RPPU) members.
Last month, the guards laid a complaint with the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service (CSPS), a police oversight body responsible for ensuring the police act in accordance with the law.
Transnet said this week that an internal investigation had established that bullets fired at the guards came from guns belonging to “SAPS (RRPU) and a Transnet employee”.
Police confirmed that an attempted murder case was opened in Alberton and said the investigation was ongoing.
“With regard to allegations that the police officers were involved on the day of the shooting, the matter forms part of the ongoing investigation,” said Gauteng police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi.
In a statement to the secretariat last month, Makhoba claimed that a witness at the yard that night told [the police] that Kerrs and another policeman had allegedly returned to the scene and collected cartridges. He claimed Kerrs did not avail himself for an interview by the police, despite numerous requests.
“Mr Kerrs was contacted several times to write a statement but he never did, and our case was returned from court [by the public prosecutor] because the statement of the accused is not on the docket,” Makhoba added.
Kerrs declined to respond to questions by the Sunday Times about his conduct, including that he had allegedly tampered with the scene. He referred all questions to Transnet.
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