Cape Town — The City of Cape Town has suspended two metro police officers who were caught on camera throwing a handicapped man out of his wheelchair.
The video went viral on Thursday morning.
The incident caught on two-minute video is believed to be in connection with the Intlungu yaseMatyotyombeni Movement which marched to the Cape Town Civic Centre to meet mayor Dan Plato to discuss their grievances regarding access to water, toilets, electricity and housing.
The man in the wheelchair was one of the protesters. In the video, he can be heard saying, “then you must arrest me” to the officers as they argued. It was at this point that one of the officers went and threw the wheelchair over.
Plato said following the incident the officers were suspended with immediate effect.
“Following a video that was shared on social media this morning regarding an incident involving two City of Cape Town Metro Police officers and a member of the public in a wheelchair, I immediately discussed the matter with the City’s Safety and Security executive director, Richard Bosman, who confirmed that both officers have been suspended with immediate effect pending the outcome of a full investigation.”
Plato said: “I want to apologise unreservedly to the member of the public, whose name is not yet known to me, for what he experienced this morning.
“The manner in which this situation was handled is not what we expect from our staff.”
Cape Argus