Johannesburg - A “racist” man who allegedly assaulted and launched into a vitriolic tirade against police officers will get his comeuppance in order to protect the rule of law.
This was the vow made on Monday by Frans Mmoko, Ekurhuleni’s mayoral committee member (MMC) responsible for community safety, who said criminal charges had been opened against a 40-year-old white male from Springs.
Mmoko was reacting to Wednesday’s alleged attacks on about 10 Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) members, who were allegedly verbally and physically assaulted by a white male while responding to a call of disorderly conduct in the neighbourhood.
Mmoko claimed that some of the abusive language used against the officers referred to an Indian woman who was called a “coolie”, a racist epithet directed at persons of Indian origin.
He added that a black officer who tried to assist his Indian colleague was allegedly called a “kaffir”, which the MMC said would not go unpunished.
Mmoko asserted that racial and physical abuse of his officers would not be tolerated, adding that charges of crimen injuria, assault, intimidation, resisting arrest and interfering with police work had been opened individually by the respective officers, and that the EMPD was waiting for the SAPS to make arrests so that the matter could move forward.
He said that two precinct officers had initially responded to the disturbance complaint and, upon realising that the man was burly, unruly and looking to overpower them, they called for back-up to a specialised unit.
“Now, when the specialised unit arrived, this guy (white male) was referring to a female Indian officer as a ‘coolie’, and hurling all manner of insults.
“When a black officer approached him, the man shouted, ‘No kaffir must enter my premises,’” the MMC said.
“The guy was informed of the Criminal Procedure Act, but he just decided to go all over the place – until he eventually laid his hands on an officer.
“Imagine officers being assaulted by a civilian in public, in full view of everyone. That is almost undermining the sovereignty of the state,” Mmoko added.
The Star