Durban - South African comedian Dillan Oliphant has added his voice to the growing #ColouredLivesMatter movement which gained traction following the shooting of Eldorado Park teenager Nathaniel Julies who was shot, allegedly by police on Wednesday evening.
In a video posted on his social media channels, Oliphant said he and friends were swapping stories about their encounters with police while watching a soccer match recently.
"Are you even a coloured dude if you've never experienced police profiling? It's like if police see a coloured in a VW, VW suddenly stands for very worrying. Police had my friends in the highway taking their socks off, convinced they had drugs on them," he said.
Oliphant, known for his dry, witty humour, said while he and his friends were laughing at their encounters with police, he felt that people should be angered by the harassment of police officers.
"Our police is still deeply rooted in Apartheid fundamentals. They were put here to silence and invalidate black and brown people and they haven't been reformed. We don't talk about it because we were sold this 'Rainbow Nation' dream and we bought it with money we don't even have," he said.
The full clip is on my Instagram. #JusticeforNathanielJulius #NathanielJulius #RIPNathanielJulius pic.twitter.com/FLb962VE70
— GreenwoodStan (@dillanoliphant) August 28, 2020
"Nathaniel Julies who lived with Down Syndrome was shot and killed by police while eating a biscuit. A f***ing biscuit! They dropped his body at a hospital saying he was involved with gang activities knowing very well he's a coloured and that narrative will easily be eaten up by people who only see him as that. Cos that's who our police saw. They saw a suspect. A threat. A gangster. A life they could silence and invalidate. A coloured. Not someone's child. A loved one. A human being," he said.
Julies’s death sparked a wave of violent clashes between police and Eldo’s residents. Yesterday, police minister Bheki Cele, visited the area.
When he tried to address members of the public shortly after visiting the family, he was met by an angry crowd who chanted slogans such as “Justice for Nathaniel, enough is enough”, “police are corrupt” and “we want justice now”.
Members of the community also called on Cele to release four community leaders who were arrested and charged with public violence after the protests on Thursday.
Meanwhile, two police officers have been arrested for the shooting. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) said it had decided to arrest two police officers in connection with the murder.
In a short statement, Ipid spokesperson, Ndileka Cola, said the pair will be charged with murder and possibly defeating the ends of justice.
“The two South African Police Service members are attached to the Eldorado Park crime prevention unit. Further details regarding the case will only be made available once the pair have appeared in Protea Magistrate’s Court,” said Cola.
IOL