Police believe ‘something triggered’ assault by cops in Fish Hoek

The video of the two officers assaulting an unknown man surfaced on social media over the weekend.

It is understood the man called the police to report his girlfriend as missing.

The video shows the officers kicking and punching the man as he lies on the ground.

Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa says something must have happened before the altercation.

The officers and the man filed criminal charges against each other.

"What we saw in the video may not be the whole thing that happened there because we were not there when they arrived,” says Potelwa.

“We also do not know but it is worth noting that there is a case against a member who is seen in the video opened by another police official. The two police officials had responded to a complaint in the area about a missing individual.

“What triggered the disagreement and the altercation is a subject of investigation, we do not know what transpired. We do not see when the vehicle arrives in front of the house, and we do not see when they get out of the vehicle.  So, there must be something that we missed, you can't have a setup where a situation like that only start with an altercation, something must have happened but we do not know, it will be revealed as part of an investigation," says Potelwa.

Police watchdog Ipid has launched an investigation.

 Potelwa says the two officers will be brought before a disciplinary hearing.

"While criminal investigations into the conduct of SAPS members fall within the ambit of the IPID, the SAPS internal investigation will focus on whether the members had flouted any disciplinary prescripts that relate to the conduct of police members.

“The man in the video has been sent to a medical facility for treatment and he too opened an assault GBH case against the police officials. The docket will be referred to the IPID," says Potelwa.

ALSO READ