Another Cop Filmed Slapping Member of the Public, Scenes Spark Outrage
- A video is making the rounds, showing a police officer in the Point area of Durban slapping a member of the public
- The clip, taken in a residential neighbourhood, captured the man being knocked back by the force of the slap
- While it attracted nearly 14,000 hits inside the first 90 minutes, the material garnered divided opinions on social media
- KZN police's Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed the incident to Briefly News after verifying the clip was authentic
Source: UGC
DURBAN — Another cop was filmed assaulting a member of the public in a residential neighbourhood, seemingly unprovoked, in a recently surfaced video.
The @VehicleTrackerz X page posted the clip, showing a cop in full uniform viciously slapping and punching a man on Tuesday, 12 November 2024.
Cop filmed slapping man 'unprovoked'
According to the post, the incident happened in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
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"This one was slapped [by the alleged officer] just for standing in the middle of the road. Make it make sense. [The] incident happened on Hospital Road in South Beach, Durban," read the caption.
In response to a Briefly News inquiry, KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda verified the clip, saying the incident happened in the Point area.
When publishing this story, Netshiunda said police had begun investigating the circumstances surrounding the "unprovoked" assault.
In the 83-second clip — after a recent one showed a Tsakane police sergeant in Soweto slapping a resident — a male victim is seen standing in the middle of the road casually, with the two officers nearby next to an unmarked police van.
Watch the video here.
Several other men are milling around them.
One of the policemen then walks up to the victim and, in the ensuing seconds, slaps him powerfully across his face, nearly knocking him over.
The man in blue proceeds to manhandle the stunned victim as he draws him in by his T-shirt before appearing to punch him twice with a closed fist.
At that time, the officer tried intervening to quell the escalating situation while a few onlookers huddled around them.
He eventually lets go, and the community berates the officer. The victim can also be heard questioning in IsiZulu:
"Ung'shayelani?! Ngiyabuza kuthi ung'shayelani? (why are you hitting me? I am asking why you are hitting me?"
The situation becomes tense as a crowd begins to swell as onlookers demand to know why the aggressive officer hit the man as his colleague drags him away.
The clip ends with the officers trying to leave the scene amid the flaring tempers of a rowdy crowd. At one point towards the end of the clip, the man who was hit is seen sitting in the driver's side of the cop car.
Online users assess violent scenes
The clip attracted nearly 14,000 views within one-and-a-half hours, drawing polarising opinions based on observations of the material.
Briefly News looks at the responses.
@Dumie_Mafunda wrote:
"Police officers aren't mad. They can't just slap people on the road. Surely, he said something after being told by this officer not to obstruct traffic flow intentionally. He can't just get a slap in the face. Respect goes a long way."
@MthabineJustice said:
"Why was he standing in the middle of a road, playing [on] his phone? For RAF?"
@JoyBlackZA added:
"They wouldn't try this with foreigners, though. Cops bully South Africans."
@JosephZamjoe noted:
"How do you park a car in the middle of the road instead of [in a] parking bay, and then stand in the middle of the road, and expect to be praised?"
@CastleLarger mentioned:
"Someone will hopefully get some nice settlement money by December 25."
Clips seem to show traffic cop's terror
In a related story, Briefly News reported that SA's sleuthing uncovered several videos showing what appeared to be a Gauteng Traffic Police (GTP) officer unleashing a reign of terror.
A clip that made the rounds, capturing a heated confrontation between the alleged cop and Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) officers during a vehicle stop, sparked the frenzy.
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Source: Briefly News
