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The proximity between the recent spate of police attacks on civilians, and the police commissioner's wild talk about shooting to kill, is surely no coincidence. Officers appear to have taken Cele's remarks as a signal to be trigger happy, and now yet another family is grieving the loss of an innocent loved one. This time, a family in Klipfontein View is mourning the death of their three year old child. The police apparently fired the fatal shots because they mistook something in the child's hands for a gun. According to the mother, he was holding a lollipop. One has to ask, if this is not the very definition of ‘trigger happy', then what is? Driving in an unmarked car and not in uniform, South African Police Service officers allegedly drove up to a vehicle parked outside a house in Klipfontein View near Midrand, and shot through the window of the car, killing little Atlegang Phalane. Despite the fact that this was a crime scene, the police then apparently moved the three year old's body, arrested his uncle, who had been in the vehicle, and proceeded to arrest the father, and the owner of the car. The uncle was later released without charge. For the six hours it apparently took a mortuary van to arrive the police prevented Mapule Phalane, the child's mother, from going to the body. Time and again the SAPS have rejected the findings of Independent Complaints Directorate investigations, and refused to reign in rogue police officers. For police to have behaved in this manner is simply inconceivable and the minister of police and commissioner need to provide us with answers. We will monitor the progress of the investigation into this tragic death, to ensure that those responsible are tried in a court of law and brought to justice.
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