By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The four police officers who were accused of fatally shooting Mthokozisi Ntumba have been found not guilty on all counts due to insufficient evidence.
Tshephisho Kekana, 27, Cidraas Motseothatha, 43, Madimetja Legodi, 37, and Victor Mohammed, 51, appeared in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
The Johannesburg high court has acquitted four police officers on charges of killing Ntumba during a student protest in Braamfontein, Johannesburg last year.
Judge Mawabo Malangeni said none of the state witnesses could identity either of the accused as the persons who shot and killed Ntumba on March 10 2021.
Malangeni said the state could not provide any credible evidence that warrants a conviction.
After the state concluded its case in March, the four accused brought their application for discharge of the charges against them in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Such an application is made when after the state has presented its case and the accused believe the state’s case is weak and there is no need for them to testify.
They had been charged with murder and attempted murder and pleaded not guilty.
Ntumba, 35, was gunned down shortly after visiting his doctor for a consultation at MyClinic Health Care on De Beer Street.