City refers Law Enforcement Officers for independent Disciplinary proceedings
15 August 2020
During an anti-land invasion operation in Khayelitsha on 1 July 2020, an altercation ensued involving Law Enforcement officials after a member of the public deliberately disrobed. This was an apparent attempt to thwart the operation aimed at protecting land on the direct pathway of a water pipeline construction project.
The City of Cape Town has since referred four Law Enforcement officials for disciplinary proceedings to be independently chaired and initiated.
This is in line with the recommendation of an independent investigation, which considered what steps the City should take regarding the conduct of officers involved in the altercation.
‘All City employees are bound by the Municipal Code of Conduct for staff. Independent disciplinary proceedings will ensure fair and impartial consideration of the matter,’ said Executive Mayor Alderman Dan Plato.
The City further notes an affidavit submitted to the Western Cape High Court by Mr Bulelani Qolani in which he confirms that he went into a structure, undressed, and emerged naked without prompting, exposing himself to onlookers while the operation to dismantle illegal structures was taking place.
Mr Qolani claims to have then immediately re-entered the structure in order to allegedly bathe. Video filmed by Law Enforcement during the operation further depicts Mr Qolani emerging from a structure naked and unprompted. This happened prior to the altercation with officials, which is the subject of an independent disciplinary process.
‘Deliberate disrobing is a tactic that officials indicate they have seen before. This week in Welbeloond, we had three incidents and we have now developed a new strategy for coping with it, which involves officers covering the disrobed person with a blanket and accompanying them out of the structure in order for the removal of the structure to proceed,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith.
Structure was not a dwelling
The City disputes media reports that the structure depicted in the initial viral video was Mr Qolani’s dwelling. Aerial photographs taken by the South African National Space Agency refute Mr Qolani’s version of taking illegal occupation on 16 March, as quoted by News24.
In the Sunday Times, Mr Qolani is quoted as saying he was there two weeks prior to the altercation with officials. However, ALIU officials first noted the particular structure on the day of the incident, 1 July 2020, having conducted an operation to remove an illegal structure at the same site the previous day.
Near daily anti-land invasion operations are conducted to prevent further invasion of the site, which is on the direct pathway of a R162 million water pipeline from Faure to Khayelitsha, which is currently under construction. Over R50 million has already been spent on this ongoing project. The City has a court order permitting the removal of illegally erected structures, which are placing this major infrastructure project in jeopardy. The pipeline is intended to provide the bulk water and sanitation infrastructure needed for growing human settlements development in Khayelitsha as a whole. To date, no evictions have been conducted on the site, only anti-land invasion operations.
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Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
