By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
Nkosinathi Cwati evaded and survived rubber bullets from the police during the looting of stores in Alexandra.
Nkosinathi said he was one of the people who destroyed and ransacked Alexandra’s Pan Africa Mall in a series of looting that had rocked KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng two weeks ago.
The father of two said that he has not worked since 2019 as a result of COVID-19.
He said he joined the looting because his wife is expecting their third child and he thought that the items he took from different shops would help him and his wife. “I took items like baby disposal nappies, grocery items, meat as well as a table,” he said.
He said on the third day of the chaos he was shot by a police officer on his back. “The police were chasing us while firing rubber bullets. I had items in my hands when I was hit on my back. I held on to the items I stole.
“Over two weeks from the day I was shot, I still feel the pain.”
“In addition to the bullet that struck me, I dodged many more police bullets where they shot at protesters.”
He said the pain of the rubber bullet on his back continues to remind him of the danger of joining the demonstrations.
“If the rubber bullet were a live bullet, I would have died or be paralyzed forever.
“When I think of it, I am scared and I regret having been involved in chaos,” he told Scrolla.Africa team.
Nkosinathi said he lost his job in the retail sector last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “I was working in Sandton. But when the pandemic hits the shores of South Africa, I was let go.
“Ever since, I have suffered from having to support my wife and two children.”
He said that the police and the army in their door-to-door search found everything he looted and they took them.
“I accept that I was wrong and I helped the law enforcement to take everything in my shack and give them back to them,” concluded Nkosinathi.
