Police BRUTALITY under spotlight in N Cape
Wednesday 20 November 2013 18:55
Margaret Mothibi
Deputy Minister of Police, Maggie
Sotyu, has also reassured foreign shop owners of government's protection.(SABC)
Police
brutality has reared its ugly head in the Northern Cape. Deputy Minister of
police, Maggie Sotyu, was inundated with complaints by the Jan Kempdorp
community about police cruelty in the area during an Imbizo.
The residents named and shamed officers who they claim manhandled them. Local resident Jacob January says he is now blind in his one eye because of police brutality.
"The police in Jan Kempdorp really beat me up so badly that I’ve been through the eye operation and it never succeeded till now. I can't work," he says.
The Deputy minister says all complaints will be referred to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate. Sotyu says: "One of the challenges is the fact that smaller places like Jan Kempdorp and Pampierstad, to be honest, I don't think police management at provincial level pays enough attention to them. No police officer is allowed to beat up any member of the public of the community."
Sotyu also visited foreign shop owners and reassured them of government's protection.
The residents named and shamed officers who they claim manhandled them. Local resident Jacob January says he is now blind in his one eye because of police brutality.
"The police in Jan Kempdorp really beat me up so badly that I’ve been through the eye operation and it never succeeded till now. I can't work," he says.
The Deputy minister says all complaints will be referred to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate. Sotyu says: "One of the challenges is the fact that smaller places like Jan Kempdorp and Pampierstad, to be honest, I don't think police management at provincial level pays enough attention to them. No police officer is allowed to beat up any member of the public of the community."
Sotyu also visited foreign shop owners and reassured them of government's protection.
