Man gets bail for ‘beating’ two traffic officers

The accused appeared in the Richards Bay Magistrates’ Court on Monday and was also charged with not having a valid public driver’s permit, Zululand Observer reported.

The suspect was allegedly also transporting passengers at the time of the incident last Friday, but none of the passengers were injured.

He was granted R1 000 bail on condition that he appears before the court again on July 24. The matter was remanded for further investigation.

Meanwhile, a Zimbabwean man will lay a charge of assault against the Metro police after one of its officers allegedly beat him up.

The 29-year-old Birchleigh resident said he was also kept in a police holding cell overnight without any case being opened against him, and only taken to a hospital the next day.

The man, who has been living with his family in South Africa since 2006, asked to remain anonymous as he is still traumatised and fears for his life following the incident.

Click here to watch the video.

“I was driving home on the night of June 27 with my younger brother in the car when two metro police officers, a man and a woman, stopped me and asked for my driver’s licence, which I provided. They asked me if I had been drinking, which I admitted to doing but assured them I was going straight home,” he explained.

After questioning why his blood sample was being taken, he was allegedly handcuffed to a chair and the male officer started beating him.

“He pulled me all over the place, beating me. I was falling all over the place. He picked up a spade and hit me on the back of my head, which knocked me out. I don’t know for how long I was out but I woke up later with a wound on my lower abdomen,” he said.

– Caxton News Service