POLICE in the Western Cape have launched an investigaton after a video surfaced of cops beating two men with a sjambok on Monday.
The video, which was circulating on social media, has left many people shocked and angry.
It shows cops searching two men who are pressed up against a police van.
One cop takes a sjambok from the other one’s pocket and moers one man. The other cop is also seen slapping the man he is searching.
Western Cape police spokesman Brigadier Novela Potelwa said the incident happened in Worcester outside Cape Town, and the cops involved have since been identified.
“Following circulation of a video on social media platforms depicting two police officers, one sjamboking a yet-to-be-identified man and another searching and slapping the second man on Tuesday, police have, with immediate effect, instituted a probe.
“The investigation is led by Worcester cluster commander, Major-General Nomthetheleli Mene,” said Potelwa.
She said so far preliminary investigations had revealed the incident occurred near an industrial area on Monday, 18 January.
She said the van in the video belonged to Ceres Police Station, but was currently used by a police unit in Worcester.
Potelwa said the officials captured had been identified and found to be cops attached to a unit in Worcester
“The two individuals are yet to be identified and interviewed as part of the investigation,” said Potelwa.
“Further investigation is expected to also shed light on what had happened prior to the recording.”
She said police were not supposed to beat and manhandle suspects, and that what the cops did was illegal.
“Police in the Western Cape wish to place on record that the beating up and manhandling of individuals and/or suspects is against departmental directives and prescripts that govern the handling of persons by police officials,” she said.
“In addition, the use of a sjambok by police officials isn’t only forbidden but unlawful, too.”
