Human Rights Watch have called on the police to stop the use of rubber bullets following the killing of a bystander during student protests at the University of the Witswatersrand (Wits).
Mthokozisi Ntumba (35), from Auckland Park, was shot while leaving a clinic in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, and was caught in the crossfire as police were firing rubber bullets at the protesting Wits students on March 10.
The student protests emanated from the university management’s decision to block students with unpaid university fees from registering for the new academic year.
After interviewing witnesses, reviewing media reports and video footage of the incident, in a statement released on Monday, Human Rights Watch concluded that police fired shotguns, most likely loaded with rubber projectiles, recklessly and without warning - and at a close range into a small group of people.