The police brutality to protesters
Thokozile Nkosi
Thokozile Nkosi
Hope farm
Dannhauser municipality
KwaZulu-Natal province
The police brutality to protesters
The community members where peacefully protesting outside Ikwezi mining and there were old people and youth trying to send their grievances to the mine unfortunately the situation got out of hand while some communities were sitting down singing the struggle songs and other negotiating with the police. They were not even told that demonstration should disband in any three languages but the police just say (put two rubber bullets to each person) than the gun sound started.
People started to run away but were shot in the back with rubber bullets. This area is close to shops where everyone shops and there are bus stops where members of the public get transportation to the city or local shops. people were in the wild and some were injured and arrested. Three women were arrested and they were ordered to lie down, the police put their heavy boots on their backs and pressed them down.
This happened in the Mbabane area of the Dannhauser municipality on April 12, 2021. The case has been going on for three years until it ends, but members of the community stayed in custody from Friday until Monday when they were out on bail.
I believe that the reason for this brutality of the police is that they do not know their role as public police (POP) on the day of the protest and they do not have a clear understanding of how to tell the protesters to disperse. Instead we saw the police choosing the side of the mine because they were armed to see if we were interfering with the operation of the mine.
IPID – they must make sure that if a case is filed with the police, they will take it seriously and do justice. And they should get a clear point about their role and the commander in charge of the meeting day should be able to communicate with the people who are marching or protesting.
What can be done in the section 4 meeting instead of staying on the route that will be used and the number of protesters, we must talk about the language the police use when they tell people to leave and then there is a discussion with the police about the policies that the protesters must follow along with them.
The action that can be taken is for the IPID to take seriously the cases filed by their police colleagues and they must be given a booklet that talks about the right to protest and the Law of Assemblies because these people think or feel that we are breaking the law when we protest and they know that it is our constitutional right in chapter two of the constitution.
