Two weeks before Ramone Freeman was shot and killed by cops, the Wynberg father had applied to be a police reservist.
This was revealed by his wife Akifah Williams on Wednesday, who said her husband’s death has left many unanswered questions.
The father of three passed away in the early hours of Sunday when a police officer shot him once in the chest in Mile End Road in Diep River.
According to police watchdog group, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), who are investigating the incident, the officers were investigating a reported housebreaking during load shedding, when they noticed Freeman jumping over the complex wall where his mother lives.
Freeman then allegedly used a knife to assault the officers, and was shot once in the chest.
But Williams says her husband was a good man who would never attack police as he wanted to join SAPS.
She says he had keys to his mother’s flat and wanted to visit her, but had the wrong key on him, that is why he jumped over the wall.
Williams says: “He was applying to be a reservist at the Wynberg station and cops were helping him, that was on 23 January when he did the application.
“My daughter was so happy that her daddy was going to be a policeman, but now a policeman killed her father.”
Police couldn’t confirm whether Freeman applied to be a reservist and referred the Daily Voice to IPID. IPID spokesperson Phaladi Shuping did not responded to queries.
Williams says her husband’s death is a mystery and she wants answers.
She says: “They didn’t want me to see him when I got to the scene, why not? How can police and armed response guys be attacked by one man? There was no knife in his hand and around him. They also cleared up the scene so fast.”
Ramone will be laid to rest on Saturday.
byron.lukas@inl.co.za