Social media on Cape Town protests & 'police brutality': 'This is horrifying'
Social media users have accused police of brutality after Wednesday's clashes between the SAPS and foreigners in Cape Town.
Refugees and asylum seekers staged a sit-in outside the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHRC) offices in Waldorf Arcade, St George's Mall.
The foreigners, fearing xenophobic attacks, are demanding relocation to another country.
On Wednesday, police arrested about 100 protesters, after obtaining a court order to evict them, TimesLIVE reported.
Patient Kazadi, 27, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said he had not been notified of the eviction until Wednesday. He accused the police of being violent and xenophobic.
“Today they sent police and law enforcement to get us out of here ... There’s one woman lying down here, they didn’t even call an ambulance. There’s another guy inside, bleeding. And they say, we’re not xenophobic. They are. They are xenophobic.”
Scenes from the protest are being widely shared on social media, with scores calling for violence-free policing in handling the situation.
Here's a glimpse into the reactions:
It takes one abusive police officer to tarnish the reputations of many. What appears to be a City of Cape Town official punches woman in face (0.01) then kicks person on ground (0.12). Colleagues ignore him. Outside UN office in CT today. @CityofCT @SAHRCommission @Abramjee pic.twitter.com/qLwLKEPijE
— Andrew Faull (@AGFaull) October 30, 2019
Refugees are requesting to leave South Africa because xenophobia its still not criminalized in SA and so they’re having a demonstration in Cape Town only to be brutalized by the police
— mfaz’omnyama. (@mfazomnyama_) October 30, 2019
Mother & Child seperation should be deemed a crime against humanity!
This hurts😭
🎥@BMunyati pic.twitter.com/j0ZKRI2cmj
What is going on in Cape Town is a true reflection on what this country thinks of black bodies. Absolutely horrifying!
— abdul hamid carrim (@baymath) October 30, 2019
We call Cape Town City the "Mother City", what a joke! @CityofCT #Refugees rights are #HumanRights! Where is the leadership when daughter and mother are treated like this? Girl is thrown into a police van? @CyrilRamaphosa @AmnestySAfrica @Refugees @SABCNewsOnline pic.twitter.com/VMEmomq1bD
— Bob Mwiinga Munyati (@BMunyati) October 30, 2019
A refugee at the protest in Cape Town today 💔 Disgusting behavior. Ripping babies away from their mothers like that is beyond inexcusable.
— Keri (@kerifromCPT) October 30, 2019
The police brutality happening in Cape Town is absolutely disgusting and we should really look a policing as whole because they never treat people like people any protest had in this country. It’s absolutely despicable #Refugees
— Most UnKool (@LloydGrey) October 30, 2019