WATCH | Community fumes at police conduct as Cape Town man arrested on drug charges

Cape Town police said that a viral video showing a man lying sprawled on the ground was "taken out of context", and that the man wasn't as badly injured as he appeared.

In the video, which is doing the rounds on social media, the man lays helplessly in the street. He is surrounded by community members and appears to have blood on his forehead.

"You can't mos shoot him like you want to (sic)," a community member is heard saying.

A second community member is heard saying: "They shot him in the head."

A small boy then enters the video and starts swearing at the officers.

"You, why did you shoot my uncle? Your mother's p****"."

A woman asks if it was the boy's father. The boy breaks down hysterically and is later seen being pulled away by community members.

Police officers then pick up the man by the arms and legs and move him to the police van. It frustrates the community even more, who are now also seen moving to the police van.

"They can't just pick him up," a woman says.

While one of the officers opens the back of the van, a man is heard saying: "You can see this man is shot how can you take him away? They shot Max in the head."

"Who shot him?" a woman asks.

Officers tells the community to move away from the van and then load the man in at the back.

Despite claims by many community members that the man was shot in the head, Western Cape police has since denied this.

Police spokesperson Lt-Col André Traut said the video was viewed out of context and that no shots were fired during the altercation.

Traut said the incident happened on Monday at around 16:45 in Rocklands, Cape Town.

He said Mitchell's plain crime prevention unit members were busy with crime prevention duties in Heron Street when they approached a group of men, who fled upon their arrival.

"One of the men, a 43-year-old male, resisted arrest and in the process sustained a cut to his head. He was arrested and taken to hospital for treatment and discharged," Traut said.

The man had been charged with possession of mandrax, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer.