Johannesburg - Humiliation, anger and pain spilt over and left David Ndlovu choking on his words after police officers allegedly terrorised him and his wife and assaulted him.
Ndlovu said he felt disrespected and his wife Monica belittled by police after they were pulled over along Rigel Avenue in Pretoria just after 10am on Monday in a case of mistaken identity.
The couple were thrown on the ground and firearms were pointed at them. At the end of their ordeal, Ndlovu and his wife struggled to open a case at three police stations.
“It is almost like they are waging war against us civilians just because they can,” Ndlovu said.
He and Monica were driving in Rigel Avenue when they noticed a swarm of police cars parked across the road in front of them. The lights were flashing.
“It looked extremely serious, but because we suspected nothing, we thought we would pass while they went on with their business,” Ndlovu said.
He noticed a police helicopter circling above their car. Within minutes, motorcycles with police officers astride sped onto the on-ramp behind them and one rode up to the driver’s window.
“He had a gun pointed at us and he shouted for us to get out of the car.”
With about six guns pointed at them, they lay on the ground and the vehicles parked ahead closed in on them. Officers hurled insults and ordered Ndlovu to stop asking questions.
He got up, only to be grabbed by the front of his shirt and slapped across the face by a young officer. The couple were told not to bother laying charges because nothing would come of it.
“To be treated like thugs by law enforcement agencies was irritating and humiliating,” Ndlovu said. “They disregarded our humanity and insulted us horribly.”
SAPS spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini couldn’t explain the police officers’ behaviour.
The Star