News24.com | Leo Williams, 9, was killed by a rubber bullet during a protest. IPID could not identify the shooter

Nine-year-old Leo Williams was shot during a service delivery protest.

• An IPID investigation has found no one responsible for the death of a child hit by a rubber bullet.
• Leo Williams was hit by a rubber bullet during a service delivery protest in 2020.
• The community has been left outraged and frustrated by the outcome of the investigation.

A Western Cape community has been left angered and frustrated after an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) probe failed to find anyone culpable for the 2020 death of a nine-year-old boy who was shot during a service delivery protest.

Leo Williams was at home in Laingville, St Helena, in July 2020 during the protest when he was struck by a stray rubber bullet. He died after two weeks of fighting for his life at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town.

Laingville community leader Thyrone Williams said the community still had no clarity or answers following the incident.

“The findings are not enough to give the community the answers they’ve been seeking. It’s very disappointing. We were hoping someone would be held responsible,” he said.

READ | Leo Williams, 9, takes his last breath 2 weeks after ‘being hit by a rubber bullet during protest’

On Thursday, IPID spokesperson Lizzy Suping said the police watchdog had concluded its investigation into the matter.

The IPID investigation was finalised on 18 August 2021, and the docket was handed over to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a decision.

The DPP referred the docket to the magistrate of the Vredenberg Inquest Court, and on 17 December 2021, a decision was made by the magistrate that the identity of the shooter was unknown, said Suping.

She said: 

However, Williams said the ruling had placed further strain on the relationship between the community and the police, and he feared further protest action.

“The police can come here at any time and can do whatever they want, and no one will be held responsible,” he added.

“They cannot tell us no one can be held responsible. The situation is very volatile at the moment.”

Williams added that the community was engaging with the South African Human Rights Commission to have the case reopened.

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