Cops vs Cops

Leopard-crawling to save my life
June 26 2008 at 06:31AM


It has been a long time since I leopard-crawled with bullets cracking over my head. That's what I was doing last night.

This time the people pulling the triggers were supposed to be on the same side - the Joburg metro police and the SAPS. But they were out to kill each other.

I was part of a crowd standing about listening to a senior metro cop trying to get protesting colleagues to listen to him - with little success. There had been toyi-toying, good-natured banter - even a drill display by a platoon of metro cops.

But it all turned ominous when the SAPS arrived. They brandished shotguns and wore body armour. Some were clearly game for a scrap.

They were taken aback when they noticed the metro cops were armed and loaded.

"We've also got guns," was the chant, which didn't sound good.

The SAPS withdrew to a safe distance. They made two false charges over the next hour, only to withdraw when some metro cops drew their weapons.

So, when they finally made a push for real, we - the spectators - were taken by surprise and went to ground.

I don't know what happened next - I had my chin on the tar - but at least 200 shots must have been fired, including automatic weapons fire.

I made it back to my car just as people in front of me decided to make a break for it. I followed suit, dodging the debris of the roadblock.

I didn't take a good look at what was going on, but did see an SAPS officer fire his shotgun at the crowd running down the Eloff Street onramp.

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on June 26, 2008