An Ekurhuleni taxi driver has been left unable to provide for his family after he was assaulted and left with serious injuries in what seems to have been a case of mistaken identity.
Bhekabakhe Khumalo, 42, of Vosloorus on the East Rand, was assaulted, allegedly by police, during an arrest in 2016.
After the assault, Khumalo lost four teeth and still feels pain in his jaw from when he was allegedly kicked.
Khumalo told Sowetan that he has a lump on his spine and cannot hold heavy objects in his left hand. His right leg, he added, has a black mark next to the heel, which is painful.
Before the assault, Khumalo provided for his family by driving long-distance taxis between Johannesburg and different parts of KwaZulu-Natal. He also transported goods for people between the two provinces.
With the injuries he has suffered, he said he cannot drive long distances, which means he cannot provide for his five children.
“I am surviving on my parents’ pension. Last year, I had to ask my two daughters who are in grade 11 to go and live with a neighbour back home in Babanango [KwaZulu-Natal]. This was just to help them continue going to school. I have suffered for nothing. I really want justice for the sake of my children. I cannot even afford a lawyer to sue police for what they did to me,” he said.
Khumalo told Sowetan that on April 7 2016, he was at a friend’s house when he received a call from someone requesting that he fetch furniture belonging to someone who was relocating from Brackendowns in Alberton.
On arriving at the address where he was told that he would find the furniture at about 7pm, Khumalo said they started moving the furniture from the house, placing it next to his van. He was accompanied by three men who helped him move the goods.
“I saw the gate open. A man in civilian clothes then came and pointed a firearm at me. Immediately, I thought that I was going to be robbed of my van. But as the gate further opened, another man came in and was also carrying a gun.
“I thought of running away but then I saw red beams from torches on their firearms right on my chest and became fully aware that there was no escape,” Khumalo said.
He said he only realised that it was police when he saw their vehicles and other officers who were in uniform also arrived, about 20 of them.
Khumalo said the police started assaulting him and the men who were with him. He said they were then handcuffed and put inside a police van.
“At Brackendowns police station, officers continued assaulting me. One of them took out his cellphone and showed me a picture of a man. I told him I don’t know the man. He then asked me if I’m not Big Show Khumalo and I told him no. [But] they continued assaulting me,” he said.
He said he was then taken to the Alberton police station where he was questioned and informed that he had been arrested in connection with the murder of North West business-person Wandile Bozwana.
In October 2015, Bozwana was followed by men on the N1 heading towards Pretoria and when the car stopped at the Garsfontein off-ramp they fired shots at him and his business partner Mpho Baloyi. Bozwana died shortly afterwards, while Baloyi managed to drive on and got help at a glass company in Menlyn.
Five people have been arrested for the crime and are appearing before the Pretoria magistrate’s court.
Khumalo said he informed police that he knew nothing about the case and they released him on April 9, after which he filed a complaint against the police for unlawful arrest and assault.
Police spokesperson Cpt Mavela Masondo referred all questions to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid). Ipid spokesperson Grace Langa said: "Ipid Gauteng checked and they seem not to know about this case."
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