A female pedestrian Phumla Mtshali (26) was killed after she was run over by a vehicle belonging to the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Phoenix, North of Durban, during the early hours of Friday morning.
A policeman who allegedly fled the scene of the accident subsequently committed suicide.
According to Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) the driver sped off without assisting the critically injured pedestrian. A registration plate belonging to the vehicle was recovered at the scene but was removed by an unknown person minutes later.
Rusa spokesperson, Prem Balram, said they received a call from a farmer hours after the incident reporting a suspicious vehicle on his property.
Reaction Officers proceeded to the area in Canelands in KZN and located an accident damaged black Toyota Fortuner. The registration plates were missing. The vehicle was fitted with blue emergency lights, said Balram.
“Reaction Officers conducted a vehicle ownership check with details from the licence disk and it was confirmed that the vehicle belonged to the South African Police Service (SAPS). It was reported stolen at the Phoenix SAPS on Friday. It was later established that it was the same vehicle that was being sought for a hit and run accident that claimed the life of Phumla Mtshali.”
Her family believed that the policeman reported the vehicle stolen in an attempt to manipulate the investigation.
“Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) has received confirmation that a Warrant Officer from the South African Police Service (SAPS) was being sought for the arrest for the culpable homicide of the mother of two (2) children. He allegedly made telephonic contact with several of his family members before he took his own life at a hotel in Umhlanga ,” said Balram.
The Mercury