By Alex Eliseev
When officers stormed the Doors nightclub and began raiding it for drugs and underage patrons, Yolandi Brits asked if she could fetch her driving licence from the car.
Instead of being granted a chance to prove she was 21, she was thrown into a police van, dragged out of it by her feet and beaten so severely, she landed up in hospital.
Her story is one of more than a dozen of how a "nightmare" raid was conducted by Ekurhuleni metro police department (EMPD) officers in Edenvale at the weekend.
The raid has sparked a criminal investigation - initiated by Brits - and an internal probe, and a string of civil suits are expected to be launched against the EMPD.
The Doors' management was due to host a meeting tonight to discuss taking further action against officers who treated its patrons "like terrorists".
EMPD spokesperson Inspector Mveli Nhlapo on Monday said 35 people were tested for drugs, with 17 being arrested.
Other arrests included that of three alleged drug dealers, five people in possession of stolen goods, and a drunk driver.
Some of those drinking liquor illegally were as young as 12, Nhlapo claimed, and the "large quantity" of drugs seized ranged from dagga to cocaine.
But Edenvale SA Police Service spokesperson Inspector Jean Olckers said only 16 cases were registered - all for the "use of drugs" (following the urine tests).
Olckers said no drugs were booked in as evidence and no underage drinkers were detained.
He confirmed that a case of assault had been opened against the EMPD.
Brits recalled on Monday how she was punched and kicked in the face by three officers - including two females - after raising objections to her arrest and the assault of another woman outside the club.
She was then forced to take a urine test at a nearby licensing centre, but was released after testing negative.
Afterwards, at a nearby petrol station, she collapsed and blacked out.
Her friends rushed her to a hospital, from which she was released with medication.
On Monday, she complained of headaches and pains in her wrist and skull, where she had suffered a previous injury that was now aggravated.
She said two of her friends who tried to assist her during the assault were also manhandled and pushed around.
A patron who filmed the assault on his cellphone had it smashed by the officers, she claimed.
"I'm disgusted. They strip you of everything," she said.
Doors owner Carlos da Cunha consulted his lawyers on Monday, vowing that "we're not going to leave this".
"We've been hassled before," he said.
"But I've never seen anything like this."
Doors manager Andrew Bowker said between 30 and 50 officers were in the club.
"Whoever was inside had no human rights. As soon as you opened your mouth, they locked you up," he said.
"They walked in like we were a bunch of terrorists."
One 20-year-old woman, who spent a night in jail after having her urine tested at the club, said on Monday the entire group was set free because "everything (the EMPD did) was illegal".