A Gauteng Traffic Police officer during an operation in Johannesburg on 13 August 2020. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
A Gauteng Traffic Police officer has been suspended after he was caught on camera assaulting a citizen.
A video which circulated on social media shows the officer in Gauteng Traffic Police uniform dragging and stepping on a man’s head while he was lying injured on the road.
In the two-minute clip, the officer can be heard shouting “stay down you are under arrest” during the incident that took place in the East Rand almost three weeks ago.
It is alleged that the officer – who was armed – confronted the motorist because his car was not parked properly.
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“He approached me and started beating me, but I defended myself and pushed him back [asking] him why are you beating me. This guy took my dad’s car [and punctured] all the tyres [with a knife],” the victim told eNCA.
He also alleged that the officer fired multiple shots at him and hit him once in the leg.
“He went to the state’s car [and] came out with a gun. The first time, he wanted to shoot, but the gun jammed. The second time he shot between me and my friend. After the gun jammed again twice he shot me,” he added.
The officer was placed on precautionary suspension on Friday.
“We are aware of the video and indeed the officer is in the employment of our department. The department has since decided to put the officer in question on precautionary suspension pending the final outcome of the case,” Gauteng Traffic Police spokesperson, Sello Maremane told The Citizen on Tuesday.
“The department encourages our law enforcement officers to conduct their lawful duties in line with the constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
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“This case was just an isolated incident which needed to be thoroughly investigated as our traffic officers act in a lawful manner when carrying out their lawful duties,” he added.
The officer’s firearm has been confiscated pending the investigation.
Maremane also indicated that the officer has since appeared in the Germiston Magistrate’s Court on charges of attempted murder, pointing of a firearm and malicious damage to property.
Last year, a senior Gauteng Traffic Police official was involved in a heated altercation with a cellphone store employee in Heidelberg.
The official, who is a chief provincial inspector, was caught on camera swearing at and insulting a woman behind the counter at the shop
In the video, the woman can be heard asking the man to repeat himself.
“Say it again. So, you tell people that they are bitches and sluts?” the employee said.
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While filming the incident on his own phone, the officer tells the woman that he is a customer and that she’ll lose her job.
The officer, dressed in his traffic police uniform, then tells the woman she is “f***ing stupid”.
“You think you’re smart? You must go to school… You’re f***ing stupid,” he can be heard saying.
The officer then appears to try to grab the employee’s cellphone from her hands.
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