POLOKO TAU
HE FELT safer when he saw police officers – until the men in blue allegedly helped to assault him.
Oupa Ntshalintshali, 39, said he was attacked by about six men armed with bricks and knobkerries in Zondi on January 14.
“They first threw bricks at me, and when I fell they came hard on me with kicks, and assaulted me until I managed to stand up again and run.”
Ntshalintshali sought refuge at a nearby house, but the assailants followed.
“They came to the house but I didn’t come out until I saw police in a marked vehicle. I felt that it was safe for me to go out because police were there, but I was wrong,” he said.
“I was attacked as soon as I came out of the house… this time right in front of uniformed police officers who stood there watching.
“Among my assailants was a police officer who was in civilian clothing and was also there when I was initially attacked.”
Ntshalintshali said that when he had been beaten and was groaning in pain and too weak to stand, the two uniformed police put handcuffs on him in what he called “extreme police brutality”.
“I was bleeding, especially in the face, but still I was shoved into the police vehicle and again I thought I was being rescued. They drove to a coal yard in Jabulani where I was assaulted by the two officers with fists, and repeatedly hit with firearms in the head.
“I passed out, and when I opened my eyes again I was at the Jabulani fire station, where I was being treated by paramedics who later took me to Leratong Hospital in Kagiso.”
A medical report shows injuries to the head and bruises on the arm. Pictures of Ntshalintshali taken at the hospital show him bandaged around the head and clad in a soiled, bloodstained and torn green T-shirt.
Ntshalintshali said he was attacked by men who were with a man he had a brawl with a few days earlier.
“I was told that he had opened charges of assault against me, but no police came to arrest me. He then decided to get his friends and attack me.
“Police told me, while beating me, that I was under arrest for assault. I am now out on free bail and will go back to court to face assault charges next month.”
Ntshalintshali said he had opened a case of assault against the three officers and other men, but no arrests had been made.
“I have given the names of all the people who attacked me, including those of the police officers. I am baffled as to why I am facing charges while they’re still out there.
“We should all be equal in the eyes of the law, and now I see myself as a victim in that the police have failed to protect me but instead joined in the attack. Now it seems like they are being protected,” he said.
Ntshalintshali has lodged a case with the Independent Complaints Directorate against the police officers
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Meanwhile, Jabulani police spokesman Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said Ntshalintshali was “actually rescued by police” from his attackers.
“I can confirm that (Ntshalintshali) has laid charges of assault against the officers and that a case is being investigated. No one has been arrested.”