Cape Town - The Cape Town mob justice attack in plain sight of police officers who stood idly by has broken the trust between communities and the SAPS, Western Cape community safety MEC Dan Plato said on Wednesday.
“The tragic incident in Delft saw reactionary failures from both law enforcers and the public which has to be corrected,” Plato said in a statement.
“The trusting relationship between communities and policing services has to be restored.”
On Wednesday, The New Age newspaper published still images from CCTV footage showing the victim, who was accused of theft, being sjambokked by a woman.
According to the newspaper, the victim was stoned, beaten, and hit on head. The woman allegedly used pliers to rip off two of his fingernails before he died.
In another image published by the newspaper, three police officers, one of them eating a banana, watched the attack and did nothing to stop it.
A community leader told The New Age the man was holding on to a police van begging the officers for help, but they ignored him.
The Cape Town police officers have since been suspended.
“The officers have been suspended until the investigation is concluded,” executive director for safety and security Richard Bosman said.
Plato said the officer's inaction “was a cause for grave concern”.
“Law enforcers be it the (SAPS), metro police or provincial traffic Ästand at service to the entire community and in incidents of violence cannot be a mere idle bystander.”
He commended the officers' suspension and urged the relevant authorities to investigate.
“I trust that they will not only uncover what happened at the scene but also put corrective measures in place to prevent future incidents, and I have requested a full report on the incident.”
Plato urged people not to take the law into their own hands and report crime to police.
Sapa