Probe police brutality: DA

An investigation is needed into the extent and causes of police brutality, the DA said on Monday.

The Democratic Alliance condemned "the brutish action" of Johannesburg metro police who allegedly crashed into a MP's car and swore at her in Sandton on Friday, the party's Gauteng spokesman John Moodey said.

"The incident again highlights the need for a comprehensive investigation to determine the extent of police brutality and the reasons for the breakdown in relations between communities and the police," he said in a statement.

He said the Constitution gave provinces the power to "investigate, or appoint a commission of inquiry into any complaints of police inefficiency or a breakdown in relations between the police and any community".

Moodey was responding to a report in The New Age on Monday that metro police crashed into arts and culture portfolio committee chairwoman Thandile Babalwa Sunduza's car, and insulted her. She told the newspaper she thought she was being hijacked when metro police officials confronted her.

After telling them she would park her car to avoid blocking traffic, Sunduza reportedly said she "heard a big bang" and realised a metro police 4x4 had crashed into her car. About 10 metro police surrounded it.

"It was traumatic.... The female officers were calling me 'isifebe' (whore) and a dog," Sunduza was quoted as saying.

She said she was threatened with arrest for talking on her cellphone while driving, but reportedly claimed both her cellphones were in the car boot.

Sunduza had brought charges of intimidation and malicious damage to property against the metro police officials.

Police spokeswoman Captain Kym Cloete told the newspaper no arrests had yet been made, and Johannesburg metro police spokeswoman Edna Mamonyane said a separate, internal investigation was underway.

"If [the metro police] are in the wrong, action will be taken against them," she said.