According to the South African Bill of Rights, “everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected”.

Clearly, the law enforcement officers involved in the incident below skipped over that in training, and footage of the forced removal of a naked man from his shack in Khayelitsha yesterday morning has led to a massive outcry across the country.

After that footage began to be widely shared, the City of Cape Town began an investigation, and announced last night that it was in the process of suspending the officers involved.

IOL reports:

According to some on social media, the man had been apparently taking a bath when the City officials initiated the action.

“The City has been made aware of video footage concerning law enforcement officials in Khayelitsha and a resident today while they were on duty in the area. We are in the process of suspending four staff members involved in the incident pending the outcome of the investigation.

“The suspension also ensures that staff are not targeted while on duty. We are saddened by the conduct depicted on the video footage, and we do not condone any forceful and dehumanising conduct by our staff members,” said the City’s Executive Director for Safety and Security, Richard Bosman.

The City added that the reason for the removal is that the land where the shack was erected belongs to them, and efforts to prevent illegal occupation have been ongoing.

As they remove illegally built structures, “new attempts are made to invade again on a daily basis”, with the land already earmarked for “the installation of services to serve the broader community in the area”.

Despite what Bosman and other officials may say, it’s the degrading nature of the video, and the utter lack of compassion, that seems to have really struck a nerve:

It should be noted that the man in the video gave permission for the footage to be uploaded to social media:

If you can watch that video without feeling a sense of anger for the treatment dished out, you’re made of sterner stuff than most.

Democratic Alliance interim party leader John Steenhuisen condemned the actions of the officers last night:

Swift action on this matter by the City of Cape Town is welcomed, not withstanding the fact that these are acts we shouldn’t be witnessing anyway.

We remain a democratic state and not a military state. We must promote the law and Bill of Rights at all times, rejecting brutality. pic.twitter.com/iOmWxzMuKS

— John Steenhuisen MP (@jsteenhuisen) July 1, 2020

Given how the DA seems unable, or unwilling, to rein in Helen Zille after another round of divisive tweets, some would say Steenhuisen’s words appear hollow.

[source:iol]