Police investigate video of officers ‘manhandling’ Gauteng school pupil

Gauteng police have launched an investigation after a video clip of officers “manhandling” a school pupil went viral on social media.

Provincial police spokesperson Col Noxolo Kweza said the incident happened in the Krugersdorp CBD on Tuesday.

The footage showed a uniformed school pupil, wearing a backpack, screaming while being dragged by her feet from the pavement towards a parked vehicle. An officer, whose face is largely covered, pushes her into the back seat as she tries to resist. The vehicle then drives off.

“At this stage, it has been established that the 18-year-old female learner was indeed taken to the Krugersdorp police station and subsequently released on the same day, unharmed, into the care of her mother,” Kweza said.

Gauteng education department spokesperson Steve Mabona said pupils from Hoërskool Jan de Klerk were confronted by the police for not wearing masks in public.

“They were subsequently stopped by the police, who requested them to wear their masks.  Some of them gladly obliged. The learner refused to comply with the police request.

“She was apprehended and taken to the police station. Her parents were called in to come fetch her. It must be noted that no case was opened against the learner,” said Mabona.

Mabona said the department’s psychosocial unit was dispatched to the school on Thursday to offer counselling to the affected learners.

Kweza said SAPS members depicted in the video had been identified and a departmental investigation was under way.

“We can confirm that the vehicle captured on the video is a state vehicle and that the members were on duty conducting routine patrols at the time of the incident. Whatever measures will be taken will be guided by the outcome of the investigation.”

Acting provincial police commissioner Tommy Mthombeni said the departmental investigation would be treated with sensitivity and urgency.

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