Cape Town - The City’s Safety and Security Directorate has condemned an attack on a female security officer, who was caught in the middle of an angry mob attacking City officials.
The rowdy mob petrol-bombed a City vehicle and attacked security officers at the Coastal Park Landfill Site in Muizenberg. One female security officer was injured during the altercation.
According to Law Enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyson, the officer was chased by the mob and took shelter under a vehicle. Some members of the group threw a petrol bomb on the vehicle while the officer was under it.
Dyson said: “Upon arriving on scene, the City’s Law Enforcement officers attached to the Rapid Response Unit managed to free and rescue the female officer from under the vehicle. The security officer sustained serious injuries to the lower parts of her body. She was stabilised and taken to hospital. No arrests have been made yet.”
Mayco Member for Safety and Security JP Smith said he was disgusted by the behaviour of the residents who seriously injured the security official, who was only doing her job.
“I would like to point out that it’s disgusting that people who uphold the law are violently assaulted like this. Her assailants are criminals. Nothing else.”
The City has also released a statement condemning the incident and the attack on its facility.
Mayco Member for Human Settlements Malusi Booi said: “The incident, which occurred on Sunday evening, was in retaliation to the City acting to prevent the further unlawful occupation of the proclaimed False Bay Nature Reserve earlier on the same day.”
Meanwhile, the Red Ants security services said they understood that the attack on its staff was motivated by the outrage over a City operation in the area.
The security, relocation and eviction services group confirmed that one of its officers had been seriously injured in the attack and was in a critical condition in hospital.
According to the group, the officer was manning one of its permanent security posts on the evening of the attack, when she saw the crowd gunning for her, and in her attempt to avoid being harmed, dived under the bakkie closest to her.
A community leader in the area, Magommed Ismael, said residents were still upset by the incident last month when the Red Ants fired rubber bullets at residents who were unhappy about the City demolishing their shacks.
Ismael said: “I’m not surprised that the community is angry. They have to constantly survive attacks from the City and the Red Ants. Not to say I condone the violence. However, as community leaders we have tried to engage the two groups to decide an amicable way forward, but that has amounted to nothing, despite them giving us hope they were willing to sit down with us.”
The City’s Human Settlements department said it would continue to act to prevent the unlawful occupation of land.
Cape Argus