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Crime Reporter
The South African Independent Police Investigative Directorate has started investigating the case in which a Zimbabwean embassy official was shot and killed by a police officer in Pretoria, South Africa, on Saturday after allegedly being mistaken for an armed robber. Lucky Hakueri (37), a security official at the embassy of Zimbabwe, was gunned down along Glenwood Road in Lynnwood.
The directorate spokesperson Mr Moses Dlamini yesterday confirmed to the South African media that investigations on the case had started.
“I can confirm that we are investigating it.
“Our investigators attended the scene on Saturday,” Mr Dlamini said.
He said preliminary investigations indicated that police went to a housing estate in Lynnwood, Pretoria, to investigate robberies, and while about to question possible suspects, the two men tried to escape.
Plainclothes officers in an unmarked car shot at them, killing one and wounding the other.
Officials from the Zimbabwean embassy have also approached the police for an explanation of what prompted the shooting.
The policeman who shot the two has since been arrested and is still assisting with investigations.
Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Joey Bimha yesterday said they have not yet received an official report from the South African police.
On Monday, Ambassador Bimha said they had presented the case to the ministry of Foreign Affairs in South Africa to investigate the matter.
Hakueri’s wife Ms Sarah Sande said yesterday a post mortem was conducted on Monday and she was still waiting for the results.
She said they were still in the process of finalising all the required documentation to repatriate the body to Zimbabwe for burial.
“We are expected to leave for Zimbabwe today (last night) once we finish preparing all the required documents,” Ms Sande said.
Hakueri was in the company of his friend Albany Chitsuwi (age not given), an IT specialist working in Pretoria who was also shot and seriously injured.
The two were travelling in a blue BMW belonging to Hakueri when the incident occurred.
Chitsuwi was admitted in an intensive care unit at Zuid-Afrikaans Hospital in Sunnyside where his condition was said to be critical.
Ms Sande said her husband and Chitsuwi went to a friend’s house to pick her up so that they could go and play tennis.
They were approached by a police officer who was in plain clothes and holding a rifle which he pointed at the two, ordering them to disembark from the vehicle, but they panicked thinking that he was a carjacker.
Hakueri then sped off, but the police officer ran towards their vehicle firing shots.
Hakueri and Ms Sande lived in Riviera and had a two-year-old son. He had been working at the embassy for more than 10 years.
People recently quoted by the South African media said Hakueri crashed his car into another parked vehicle before crashing into a wall while trying to escape.
The friend who was supposed to be picked up said she went outside the gate to investigate when she heard gun shots.
Online Reporter