Despite President Ramaphosa’s instructions to law enforcement to protect the citizens of South Africa during the lockdown, some members of SAPS, SANDF, and other branches of law enforcement have used this opportunity to strong-arm the people of this country.

In the early days of alert level 5, reports of squats and push-ups, as a form of punishment for breaking lockdown laws, surfaced, and that was just the beginning.

Since then, 280 cases of assault have been reported against law enforcement, along with 10 deaths allegedly due to police action.

The latest case of assault involves a toddler in KZN.

The Citizen with the details:

A video of a toddler being saved from officers allegedly trying to arrest him for being outside (in a gated community) has gone viral and elicited strong condemnation from the community of Ballito where the incident took place.

Two metro officers can be seen walking through the gate of a residential property, stepping inside and attempting to arrest the toddler, seemingly for being outside.

What you’re about to see is highly disturbing:

The finer details of the case are still being confirmed, but The South African tracked down accounts of the event on social media:

Channay Ferreira, who reportedly knows the family involved, said “Mark and another neighbour” took the children to the beach during 6:00 and 9:00, as per exercise restrictions under lockdown level 4.

Ferreira added that “one of our other neighbours saw them on the beach and thought it was OK to call the cops on them but the cops came when Mark and the kids were already walking in the gate.”

She added:“So Mark tried to get his two kids to the house and give the keys to the house to our neighbour which was the lady with the kids, and the cops thought he was resisting and took his child to get his attention.”

The Mayor of KwaDukuza Municipality, north of Durban, has spoken out against the officers involved in the incident. Meanwhile, acting mayor Dolly Govender told News24 that she was “appalled”.

She said that, while the breaking of regulations was wrong, the manner in which the child was dragged and pulled was uncalled for.

“We have made many arrests during these regulations. And yes, if someone broke the law, it is wrong. But what was disturbing was how they were with the child. You can’t pull a child like that. The child is innocent.”

Another resident of the gated community says that the officers have been “harassing” residents for an hour – this all takes place as “the little one screams in agony and calls for a parent”.

An investigation is underway to find the officers involved in the incident.

[source:citizen&southafrican&news24]