Photo via: Screenshot from video.
WATCH: Hout Bay ‘street justice’ sees alleged robber beaten in front of police
A lone police officer has his hands full in a viral video which appears to take place in Hout Bay. Angry community members serve a man they accuse of robbing people with “street justice”.
Photo via: Screenshot from video.
In a video that surfaced online on Thursday, 11 May, angry members of a Hout Bay, Cape Town community can be seen beating up a man they accused of breaking into people’s homes and robbing residents in the area.
HOUT BAY ‘STREET JUSTICE’
A well-known member of the Hangberg community in Hout Bay, uploaded the video to Facebook and is the one narrating the video, “reporting live” from the scene.
“It’s alleged one shot rang out in Hout Bay as one [expletive] was shot in the leg and got caught,” said the cameraman.
“They break into homes and rob people and [are] considered armed and really dangerous,” he said. “[The] Community replied with street justice.”
THE VIDEO WHICH CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE CAN BE VIEWED HERE.
The three-minute clip starts off with the cameraman running onto the scene while several community members kick and hit the accused man.
The community circles the man and attacks him while he cowers on the floor and tries to shelter his head from the blows raining down.
One, very outnumbered, police officer can be seen in the video. However, he cannot do much too keep the angry community at bay but manages to keep things from going completely overboard.
After the first torrent of fists is over, the officer manages to get the man off the ground and moves him towards a vehicle.
Another person who appears to be some sort of security officer appears in the frame but he is not in police uniform, the vehicle the man is placed in is also not a marked police vehicle.
Next, the police officer and Hout Bay community members order the man to “lay down”, he resists and another scuffle ensues.
Eventually, the man is inserted into the back of the vehicle and the cameraman says, “If you’re just tuning in this [expletive] robbed somebody and now we kicked his body, they [expletive] his body because he robbed somebody,” to his audience.
The video ends when the police officer climbs into the vehicle.
On Friday, 14 May, South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson Captain FC Van Wyk said police could not comment on the video as it had not been seen by station management.
He added that two members from Hout Bay’s police station arrested a suspect who was wanted for multiple robberies on Thursday morning.
“No shots were fired and no community were involved during the arrest. The suspect had no injuries,” said Van Wyk.
