Cape Town - In a sequel to the much publicised incident in which a member for the public claimed to have been naked and having a bath when City of Cape Town law enforcement officials removed him from his illegal structure last month, the city has referred four law enforcement officials for disciplinary proceedings to be independently chaired and initiated.
During an anti-land invasion operation in Khayelitsha on July 1, an altercation ensued involving law enforcement officials after a member of the public "deliberately disrobed", the city said in a statement on Saturday.
"This was an apparent attempt to thwart the operation aimed at protecting land on the direct pathway of a water pipeline construction project. The City of Cape Town has since referred four law enforcement officials for disciplinary proceedings to be independently chaired and initiated," the statement said.
This was in line with the recommendation of an independent investigation, which considered what steps the city should take regarding the conduct of officers involved in the altercation.
"All city employees are bound by the Municipal Code of Conduct for staff. Independent disciplinary proceedings will ensure fair and impartial consideration of the matter," mayor Dan Plato said in the statement.
The city further noted an affidavit submitted to the Western Cape High Court by Bulelani Qolani in which he confirmed that he went into a structure, undressed, and emerged naked without prompting, exposing himself to onlookers while the operation to dismantle illegal structures was taking place.
Qolani claimed to have then immediately re-entered the structure in order to allegedly bath. Video filmed by law enforcement officials during the operation further depicted Qolani emerging from a structure naked and unprompted. This happened prior to the altercation with officials, which was the subject of an independent disciplinary process, the city said.
"Deliberate disrobing is a tactic that officials indicate they have seen before. This week in Welbeloond we had three incidents and we have now developed a new strategy for coping with it, which involves officers covering the disrobed person with a blanket and accompanying them out of the structure in order for the removal of the structure to proceed," mayoral committee member for safety and security JP Smith said in the statement.
The city also disputed media reports that the structure depicted in the initial viral video was Qolani’s dwelling. Aerial photographs taken by the South African National Space Agency refuted Qolani’s version of taking illegal occupation on March 16, as quoted by media.
"In the Sunday Times, Mr Qolani is quoted as saying he was there two weeks prior to the altercation with officials. However, ALIU [anti-land invasion unit] officials first noted the particular structure on the day of the incident, 1 July 2020, having conducted an operation to remove an illegal structure at the same site the previous day."
Near daily anti-land invasion operations were conducted to prevent further invasion of the site which was on the direct pathway of a R162 million water pipeline from Faure to Khayelitsha currently under construction. Over R50 million had already been spent on this ongoing project.
The city had a court order permitting the removal of illegally erected structures which placed this major infrastructure project in jeopardy. The pipeline was intended to provide the bulk water and sanitation infrastructure needed for growing human settlements development in Khayelitsha as a whole. To date, no evictions had been conducted on the site, only anti-land invasion operations, the city said.