'Police did this to me'

David Mafengeni, the father of a community leader involved in service-delivery protests in Siyathemba township in Balfour, Mpumulanga, lay battered and bloodied in his home. Mafengeni told The Times he thought he was going to die when police allegedly repeatedly hit him in the face with the butt of a gun. Mafengeni said the police told him they were searching for his son, Zakhele Maya, one of the community leaders who organised the protests.

At least 32 people were arrested following the violent service-delivery protests in which a municipal building and a library were burnt down. Maya and other community leaders - who organised protests demanding jobs, electricity and water - were in hiding yesterday, apparently in fear for their lives. Mafengeni, 56, is one of several residents who claim they were attacked by police officers.

When The Times visited Mafengeni's home , his swollen face was bandaged and he was wearing a bloodied shirt. Mafaengi said: "I was asleep at about midnight when I was woken by people banging the windows of my house. I begged them to stop banging on the windows and asked them to come through the front door. When I opened the door two police officers in uniform pointed a firearm at my forehead and started to hit me repeatedly with a gun, before I could say anything. I was so scared."

Provincial police spokesman Sibongile Nkosi said: "They are free to report the alleged incident, but we are condemning these acts of lawlessness in Balfour ... the burning of property, the damaging of property and the pelting of police with stones. "We will take strong action against those [protesters] by arresting them. Those are acts of criminality. We are there to maintain law and order in that area," Nkosi added.

Mandla Maya, Zakhele's elder brother, said the police also visited his house and attacked him. "One of the three police officers said I was a suspect. Then he began kicking and punching me all over my body," he said.

Another resident, Thapelo Moloi, showed The Times what he said were five rubber bullet wounds. He said police had shot him at close range. "They accused me of being one of the people organising the protest and said I had also stolen public property," Moloi said. Police patrolled the township streets, dispersing crowds by firing rubber bullets. The streets remained barricaded with burnt tyres, rocks, old furniture and scrap metal.

Source: Times Live