Mother demands inquest into son’s police shooting

In an application filed before the High Court, Ponatshego Joseph through attorney Dr Tshepang Makwati is asking the court to compel the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the District Commissioner for Palapye District, the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and the Attorney General to ensure that a judicial inquest into the death of her son, Potso Joseph, is held without further delay. Joseph argues that despite the passage of almost three years since the fatal shooting on or about December 22, 2023, no inquest had been conducted and the family has not been informed of the progress of investigations or the circumstances that led to Potso’s death. According to the founding affidavit, Potso was driving in Palapye with his fiancée, Keneilwe Sekopo, and their six-month-old daughter after leaving Kediretswe Clinic, where the baby had received medical attention.

The mother says the only account she has of what happened that night came from Sekopo because no government official has ever explained the circumstances surrounding the shooting. “I must state at the onset that the only account I have of how my son was killed is from the account of his fiancée, who was with him on the night of the incident,” Joseph states in her affidavit. She further says neither the BPS nor any government official has sought to explain what transpired despite her repeated attempts to obtain answers.

According to the affidavit, the couple was driving home when a police vehicle travelling in the opposite direction allegedly made a U-turn and followed them with its blue lights flashing, signalling Potso to stop. Joseph says her son complied and parked on the side of the road before getting out of his vehicle to attend to the officers. She alleges that before he had taken more than three steps, a gunshot rang out and he was struck in the head.

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“The deceased fell in front of the police van’s grille and as he lay in a pool of blood, the police officers did not immediately come out of the vehicle but remained in their seats as though nothing happened,” the affidavit states. Joseph further alleges that it was only after Sekopo got out of the vehicle carrying their infant child and screaming that the officers emerged from the police vehicle. ‘The strongest bond of human sympathy outside the family relation should be one uniting working people of all nations and tongues and kindreds’.- Abraham LincolnUntil then, the Council’s operations remain suspended, delaying critical decisions affecting thousands of public sector employees.The current standoff is between the Manual Workers Union on one side and the Six Cooperating Trade Unions, namely BONU, BOPEU, BTU, BDU, BOSETU and…

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