THANDILE KONCO
Cape Town - Two men have been left bruised, abused and questioning their trust in police, after finding themselves victims of assault allegedly at the hands of officers.
While the rest of the country celebrated Human Right’s Day, Allutta Mtiya was nursing his injuries following an alleged assault by police.
Mtiya says he was was beaten, strangled and verbally abused by at least three police officers, for taking a video of the officer and telling them that he knew his rights.
On the day, six police vehicles were dispatched to Sakhwatsha Road, Lower Crossroads on an undisclosed matter. Mtiya, who was an onlooker at the incident, said that he was standing just a few houses away when he was approached by a police officer.
The altercation allegedly transpired after a police officer began to take footage of Mtiya and his neighbour. When being questioned about why the footage was being taken, the officer allegedly became aggressive. According Mtiya, the officer began to manhandle him, who immediately felt intimidated and started to record footage of the incident.
It is when Mtiya claimed to know his rights, and refused to hand his phone over to police that the altercation allegedly escalated. He was allegedly pushed against a wall, held by the neck and handcuffed. The police allegedly made threats to arrest him for being disrespectful. His phone was allegedly confiscated and the videos and photographs deleted.
“He was holding me by my neck, and pushing me against the wall when the other policemen came to help and put handcuffs around my hands. I kept telling them that I know my rights and asking them to let me go. This infuriated them further. The policeman that was in charge and seemed to hold the most authority began to patronise me while shaking his pepper spray bottle. This is when I decided to comply.”
Mbulelo Mtshotana, who recorded the entire assault on his cellphone, said that his phone was also confiscated from him, allegedly at gunpoint. Following a beating by the police, the video footage was deleted from his phone.
“My phone was taken from me at gunpoint. Three policemen assaulted me, my T-shirt got ripped in the altercation. They forced me to unlock my phone and deleted all of the footage I had taken.”
Lower Crossroads police station commander Colonel Mziwabantu Jada, has confirmed that the case has been opened and was under investigation.
Section 49 of the criminal procedure act states that police are only to use extreme force and ammunition when their lives are being threatened, on duty and during the arrest of a citizen.
“We always tell the officers to use minimal and proportional force at all times, to create as little damage as possible.’’
Jada stated that the confiscation of cellphones by police is prohibited, unless the cellphone in question is part of an investigation or is an accessory to a crime.
Just a day before in Samora Machel, Lulama Blayi was also allegedly assaulted by police as he returned from his late sister's prayer service in Delft. He suffered a swollen blue eye, fractured ribs and swollen thighs.
The incident happened when the family came across a police patrol of nine vans. While waiting in their vehicle for the convoy to conclude their operation, a police van stopped next to them to enquire why they were disturbing the patrol. Blayi responded that he was waiting for the police vehicles to move so that he could do the same.
“One of the police officers opened the driver seat door where I was seating, I don’t know where he came from. He didn’t hesitate to kick me, beat me with his fist, beating me with a gun on my knees and ankles forcefully trying to pull me out of my vehicle. The police in the van in front of us also got out, they went to the passenger door where my wife was sitting trying to pull her out of the car - they couldn’t because I was holding on to her.”
Blayi lost his smartphone during the struggle and sustained damage to his vehicle. Due to the injuries, Blayi was unable to attend his sister’s funeral. He was rushed to Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital for the injuries he sustained and is currently on sick leave.
He said the first attempt at opening a case at Samora police station was unsuccessful, because allegedly the station commander was not in. He was able to open a case the following day but was informed that there was no investigating officer allocated. Blayi believes the police intentionally delay brutality cases in an attempt to deflate these cases.
Police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut said the two incidents were being investigated by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid). Despite several attempts, Ipid did not respond to queries.
Weekend Argus