SAPS Investigating Incident of Rustenburg Officer Assaulting Member in Viral Video

• A South African Police Service officer assaulted a member of the public in Rustenburg, North West, in a video that went viral
• the video shows the officer assaulting him before other officers drag him away
• The police are investigating the incident, and some netizens slammed the officer for his conduct

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered criminal activities, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

RUSTENBURG, NORTH WEST — The South African Police Service is investigating an incident where an officer assaulted a member of the public in Rustenburg, North West. A video of the incident went viral.

Officer assaults member of the public

In the video @Jenna_original2 posted on her X account, the officer is shown attacking the man at the Rustenburg Police Station. Other officers separate the two, and they restrain the officer. One of the assaulted man's associates shouts that an officer assaulted him at the police station.

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View the video here.

A similar incident occurred in November, where an officer slapped a member of the public in Durban. The officer confronted him for stopping his car in the middle of the road.

South Africans unimpressed with the officer

Netizens commenting on the video were concerned that the officer assaulted the man. Another officer in Johannesburg allegedly attacked a homeless man in November.

The Alien Guy said:

"We are not safe."

Donovan Calvin Meyer said:

"This is so common. It happens all the time in township police stations. Cops beat people up, detain them for personal reasons and get away with it."

Mr Abbasante said:

"They are useless. Why not arrest a criminal they see assault a man in front of them?"

Human of the world asked:

"Why are they not arresting him for assault on the spot?" BabaKaThando said:

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"This man should have been arrested immediately, but his colleagues just pushed him away."

Police officer trades blows with community member

In a related article, Briefly News reported that a police officer assaulted a member of the community in a viral video. The altercation happened in October.

It's not clear where the incident took place, but the video shows him attacking the officer. The officer eventually pistol-whips the man, who falls to the ground and loses consciousness.

Source: Briefly News