Student: I want to meet the officer who shot me

Bongeka Mntaka, a third year law student, was shot in the leg while walking with classmates.

She says they were returning from a cancelled meeting.

Mntaka is seen in videos and pictures on twitter carried by a male student as she screams out in pain after a rubber bullet struck her. 

She says she decided to walk on the side where police were standing, because she thought it would be safer.  

“As we were walking past the police officers, one of the female officers started shouting at me and asking us to take the other route which was opposite the direction to res and the protesting students were on the other side throwing rocks at police” she said.

She says at first she didn’t realise it was a rubber bullet that struck her.

“I didn’t immediately realise I was shot as I was still in shock. The officer who shot me said she didn’t shoot me until I lifted up my dress there was hole in my leg and I was bleeding” she said.

One of the protesting SRC members came to her rescue and picked her up.

But Mntaka says police persisted in firing rubber bullets.

“I told him to leave me on the floor so he could run for safety because the police wanted him, but he refused saying he couldn’t leave me on the floor” she says.

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A doctor assessed her at a nearby hospital, where it was confirmed that she was shot with a rubber bullet.

Mntaka says she believes the violence at UKZN could have been avoided if the Vice Chancellor cancelled classes and addressed protesting students.

“The institution has not said anything to me after the incident. They were supposed to protect me as a student but they failed me” she says.

She is currently at home recuperating while all academic activities have been suspended.

“I would like to meet the lady who shot me, and I would like to ask her why she shot me, does she not have children? How does she feel about this?” she says. 

Edited by Faith Daniels