Johannesburg – A police officer has been arrested after a footage showed him brutally attacking a man.
The incident occurred on Tuesday evening in Reiger Park. It’s not yet known what sparked the attack, but unconfirmed reports are that the officer had gone to the store to ask for footage that showed his missing child.
In the video, the uniformed officer can be seen approaching the man and slapping him. The two then grapple and the man falls. As he’s on the floor the officer keeps hitting him. Although there is no audio, the officer can be seen shouting at the man.
At some point, the man falls down as the officer continues to hit him.
The attack only stops when the officer’s colleague drags him away. The officer then returns to the police vehicle as another colleague looks on.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate confirmed they were investigating the incident, which they said occurred at Reiger Park.
“It is alleged that the police assaulted the Pick n Pay manager. The police officer has since been arrested and he will be making his first appearance this morning (Thursday) at Boksburg court for assault,” Ipid said.
Ipid spokesperson Ndileka Cola recently said there was a backlog in cases that the directorate was working on and there was a plan in place to eradicate the rising number of police misconduct cases.
“Ipid condemns this conduct. Furthermore, the directorate is working with SAPS (about) the professionalism of police officers through station lectures, educating the police of the mandate of Ipid and implications of transgressing the laws,” said Cola.
IOL