ALL hell broke loose when a man and woman in civilian clothes got out of their white Toyota Corolla and demanded to search John Marakalala’s spaza shop.
They claimed they were cops, but had no identification or search warrant.
The 26-year-old John refused them access to his shop in Millennium Village outside Mokopane, Limpopo. He plugged in his angle grinder and chased them from his shop, but that was not the end of the story.
The Mahwelereng police came back on Tuesday in a bakkie led by the white Toyota Corolla.
“They insisted on searching my shop, but I maintained that they must show me a search warrant,” said John.
“They klapped me and hit me with an axe handle in front of my two children and my parents. I tried to run into the house, because I was afraid they would kill me. An officer took a rock and hit me on my face.
“He also broke the window of my bedroom.”
John ended up with an injured face. He went to the clinic for treatment.
He said he wanted justice.
His friend, Mpho Moremi (22), was slapped in the face when he interfered.
“We did not know if they were real police because they were not wearing uniforms and were using an unmarked car. We thought they were crooks who wanted to rob the business.
“All this could have been avoided if they had identified themselves,” he said.
Moses Dlamini, the spokesman for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, said they would help John open a case with them for investigation.
