Evicted ‘naked man’ sobs during police minister’s visit

Just days after being forcibly removed from his Khayelitsha shack without any clothes on his back, Bulelani Qholani struggled to hold back the tears over his ordeal, during a visit by Police Minister Bheki Cele on Saturday, 4 July 2020.

In a video clip that has been widely circulated online, a number of metro police officers can be seen dragging the naked man out of his home before further manhandling him. Qholani continuously tries to get back inside but he is hauled back, in full view of his neighbours.

‘Human dignity’

The incident sparked outrage amongst South Africans, who accused the City of Cape Town of violating the man’s right to human dignity and also reignited calls against heavy-handedness by law enforcement officials in the country.

Speaking to the eThembeni community, Cele condemned the incident.

“Where have you seen that? There would be brutality, those things will be broken down as it happened here and all that. Cogta will engage and here, we see there is criminality that’s why the police are part of it,” said Cele.

“I’m surprised that people find what happened here similar to other places, even under apartheid, we were told to dress up before the special branch police dragged us out of the houses”

Following the backlash, Mayor Dan Plato fuelled the flames when he said the man had intentionally taken his clothes off to avoid eviction.

In an interview with Enca, Plato said in many of the raids where structures needed to be demolished, people stood in front of the structures naked.

“It is not the first incident and it is not the last incident,” he said.

Officers suspended

The City has since moved to suspend the law enforcement involved and also launched an investigation.

“The suspension also ensures that staff are not targeted while on duty. We are saddened by the conduct depicted on the video footage, and we do not condone any forceful and dehumanising conduct by our staff members”, the city said in a statement.

“The City takes these allegations very seriously, and while our staff are subjected to very challenging circumstances while carrying out anti-land invasion operations, which are to protect land earmarked for housing opportunities and other services”