Alex Mitchley
and Amanda Watson
9.3.2015 11.30 am
Thandiswa Losi, who went
public on social media claiming she was the victim of police brutality at the
weekend, is still shaken and has lost trust in the government as well as the
police.
Losi said although you hear and see things
happening to other people, people remain oblivious until it happens to them.
“It changes everything,” said Losi about her now distrust in the police. “The
way they treat innocent people as opposed to criminals.”
Losi, using Twitter claimed she “witnessed police
horrifically drag a girl by the neck, assaulting her” at the weekend. “I tried
to record this, a police officer took my phone, hit me and arrested me,”
tweeted Losi. She said she had spent nine hours in a police cell before being
released.
Losi said she had opened up a case of assault after
being released and would be calling the Independent Police Investigative
Directorate on Monday to lay a complaint. Justice Project of South Africa
chairman Howard Dembovsky told The Citizen police were out of control
and “forcing her to delete it is a crime in itself if it shows unlawful
behaviour on their part. It is called defeating the ends of justice and
evidence tampering”.
Dembovsky said of greater concern was that the
officers “get what is coming to them”. He added the compensation she would be
awarded in a civil claim was not really the point. “The fact is, if more people
were to institute successful civil claims, this behaviour would be stopped by
SAPS management.” DA Shadow Minister of Police Dianne Kohler-Barnard offered to
assist Losi with reporting the matter to the Independent Police Investigative
Directorate.
Lead SA’s Yusuf Abramjee also offered to help Losi
and has been in contact with her since she took to Twitter about the incident.
