LEBOGANG SEALE
H E WAS shot and wounded and spent 40 days handcuffed and shackled under police guard in an incident of mistaken identity involving a car hijacker.
Last month, Gezani Abel Baloyi, 41 was acquitted in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court – 30 months after his shooting and wrongful arrest.
Now, the father of three has lost his job and has been declared medically unfit to work.
“I am so angry and frustrated. Whatever I have done to get back my job or money owed to me haven’t been successful. I feel like a dead man walking,” he said.
Baloyi lamented how his wrongful arrest had cost him his job as a supervisor for the construction of the Gautrain tunnel.
His life was miserable, he said.
He lives on the margins of survival with no income, is struggling to pay for his children’s school fees and is heavily in debt.
Adding to his woes is that he recently failed to renew his driving licence. He was told that his fingerprints showed he had a criminal record.
“My life is a mess. I can’t stand on my feet for an hour without feeling pain. I spend most of the time asleep,” he said.
Medical reports seen by The Star indicate that Baloyi has “a gun wound with a chronic draining” and medical nails and screws in his right leg.
They confirm that he is in constant pain and suffers from anxiety.
Doctors at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Malamulele Hospital in Limpopo have recommended him for disability grants, but a year later he is still waiting.
Baloyi, of Alexandra, said his misery began on the evening of March 6, 2009. He and his three brothers were walking along a street when police officers raced past, chasing a speeding vehicle that the driver jumped out of.
“The police couldn’t see him. One of them shot at me. I fell down and saw blood gushing out from my right leg,” Baloyi recalled.
He saw the motorist fall down after hearing several gunshots.
As Baloyi lay on the ground grimacing in pain, the police pointed guns at him, and he immediately pointed out the motorist.
“My leg was slightly twisted. It was broken and very painful.”
But the police handcuffed and shackled him before he was placed under police guard in hospital.
He spent 40 days handcuffed and shackled while in excruciating pain.
“At times, I felt like I wanted to die,” he cried.
In May 2009 Baloyi was discharged, then detained at the Alexandra police station. He made his first court appearance in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court three days later, and after his fourth appearance, was granted bail.
He was acquitted on September 30 this year.
Gauteng police said they could not comment on matters that had been through to the courts.