Police threatens to kill young man
"I will kill him, I will kill him, this skin is black!”
“I will kill him, I will kill him, this skin is black!”
This is the sentence a policeman repeated over and over again while pointing to a 23-year old man anxiously waiting to get word if his father was okay, after he was arrested earlier the evening of Thursday, April 14.
Unaware that a journalist was standing in the Witbank SAPS Community Service Centre listening to him ranting and raving about ‘killing’ the man the policeman carried on saying,
“This skin is black, I will kill him before he kills me.”
The policeman alleged that the man called him a ‘k….r’.
The journalist accompanied Ms Landi Bartfai who was trying to see her husband, Mr Istvan Bartfai, who was arrested for alleged assault and allegedly resisting arrest.
Ms Bartfai was refused to see her husband after she repeatedly told police that he has a heart condition.
The journalist asked to see the officer in charge and when Lt Melvin Gulston eventually came in, he recognised the journalist.
She asked Lt Gulston to reprimand the policeman and tell him to stop threatening the young man.
“Are you calling me a k…..r,”
the policeman then shouted at the journalist.
”It was obvious that the policeman was trying to spark a racist confrontation. I asked him to stop threatening the young man, who was still standing outside, as everyone was emotional after the incident. I asked him to see the situation in context before he makes another scene.
“In their Code of Conduct the SAPS undertake to act neutrally, politely and respectfully and to exercise the powers bestowed upon them in a responsible and controlled manner, however the policeman showed no respect or control,” the journalist said.
When the journalist asked if there are any cameras capturing the evening’s events she was told yes, but it is not working.
POLICE BRUTALITY – VIDEO SHOWS ALL
Ms Bartfai was eventually allowed to see her husband for a few minutes.
The Bartfai family obtained legal advice.
Capt Eddie Hall said the family has not yet opened cases against the SAPS.
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