The 14-year-old Cape Town boy who was shot in the mouth by a police officer during a protest in Cape Town says he does not want the man to lose his job.
Ona Dubula wants the public order police officer to keep working so he can pay damages to the youngster.
"They must not arrest him. I must get his pay cheque...he will have to make a plan about his own family," Ona said on Thursday during a visit to doctors at Groote Schuur Hospital.
Video filmed during protest on September 12 in Hangberg, Hout Bay, showed Ona being shot at close range while trying to hide behind an overturned table, then staggering to the side of the road and pulling a rubber bullet from his bleeding mouth.
He underwent surgery on his damaged tongue at Groote Schuur and is expected to speak with a lisp for the rest of his life.
Sitting next to his mother Pinky, the shy but lively teenager said on the morning of the protest he saw smoke from his Imizamo Yethu home and went to investigate.
When police arrived and started dispersing the crowd with rubber bullets and stun grenades, he took cover with two women behind a table.
He saw a policeman approach, pointing his shotgun at him. "I really never thought he would shoot me while that close to me. he never spoke to me, he just pointed a gun at me and shot," said Ona.
Bystanders helped him and he was taken to hospital. He said he was grateful for people's prayers and all the donations his family had received.
The teenager failed to get a place in school this year after he and another boy were expelled for fighting over a plate of food. The two boys are now friends.
Ona hopes to return to school next year and study towards his dream career.
"I want to be a pilot.[because] they get paid well," he said.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate is still probing Ona's shooting.
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