Cape Town - Melanie Kiel’s 17-year-old son, Dudley Richards, was shot and killed in Mitchells Plain on December 2, 2013.
Ten years later, the memory is still as fresh and painful in her mind as it was on the Monday night when the tragedy happened.
The weapon used in the killing was a Christiaan Prinsloo gun, which the former policeman stole from storage facilities and sold to gangsters.
Between 2007 and 2015, senior police officer Prinsloo and another senior policeman, David Naidoo, stole and distributed more than 2 000 guns awaiting destruction in police stores to gang leaders on the Cape Flats.
SAPS records show that by 2016, Prinsloo Guns had killed 1 066 people, 67 of whom were children, while thousands more were injured.
Former Gauteng policeman Prinsloo was arrested in 2015 and sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment on charges including corruption, racketeering and theft after entering into a plea agreement with the State at the Bellville Magistrate’s Court in 2016.
On Wednesday, a tearful Kiel had to take many deep breaths to compose herself before she could tell her story during an event held at the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation to mark the lodging of court papers in a class action suit targeting the Prinsloo guns.
Kiel said: “My son Dudley and his friend were on their way home. As he came out of the gate, he saw this guy being shot and killed. When he tried to run, they (the shooters) shot him in the arm and then as he tried to carry on running, they shot him in his head to make sure that he died.
“Ever since that day we have not been the same as a family. What makes it worse is that I never got any feedback from the police.”
Kiel’s is one of nine families that have come together with Gun Free SA (GFSA) in a class action suit that is set for the Western Cape High Court.
The court papers for the class action against the police minister were lodged at the high court on Tuesday.
The “Prinsloo Guns class action” seeks to claim financial relief for damages arising from police corruption and negligence in managing firearms in the SAPS’s care and on account of the minister’s vicarious liability for the actions of his employees.
GFSA director Adèle Kirsten confimed that nine family members had joined the class action. She said the affected families comprise both direct and indirect Prinsloo gun victims.
She said the families represent four categories of victims: children who were either killed or injured, adults who were killed, and injured adults.
“We are gathered here today because we want to hold the State to account for the loss, suffering and trauma of families whose lives were changed in an instant because of Prinsloo guns.
“I want to say to the minister of police: This is an incredible opportunity for you to make amends at two levels. One is to meet with the families and say sorry. Second is to make amends and provide some kind of relief.”
SAPS reports, which are based on forensic data, show that between 2007 and June 2016, Prinsloo guns were used in the commission of at least 2 784 crimes in the Western Cape.
These include 1066 murders, 1403 attempted murders and 315 other crimes. SAPS reports further show that in 2016, as many as 1 012 Prinsloo firearms were still in circulation – and likely killing and hurting more victims.
Consequently, GFSA argues that the class action must include victims of Prinsloo’s guns dating from 2007 until the present day.
Two expert witnesses submitted affidavits in support of the class action: One is Mark Mastaglio, an independent forensic scientist specialising in the examination of firearms.
The other, Richard Matzopoulos, is an epidemiologist and specialist scientist at the SA Medical Research Council who showed that gun-related death rates significantly increased after Prinsloo guns reached the Cape Flats.