Bulelani Qolani, the man who was seen in a video being dragged naked from his shack by City of Cape Town law enforcement officers. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town – The City has referred four law enforcement officers for independent disciplinary hearings for their involvement in dragging Khayelitsha resident Bulelani Qolani naked from his one-room shack at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic last month.
This follows an independent investigation into the officials’ conduct when they were involved in an altercation with the 28-year-old father of four.
The incident was caught on video and went viral, drawing nationwide outrage and resulting in Police Minister Beki Cele visiting the area.
In a statement, mayor Dan Plato said all City employees were bound by the municipal code of conduct for staff and that independent disciplinary proceedings would ensure fair and impartial consideration of the matter.
The City said it had noted an affidavit that Qolani submitted to the Western Cape High Court.
It said the affidavit confirmed that Qolani went into a structure, undressed and emerged naked without any prompting, exposing himself to onlookers while the operation to dismantle illegal structures was taking place.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said Qolani had claimed to have immediately re-entered the structure, allegedly to bathe.
He said video footage filmed by law enforcement officials during the operation depicted Qolani emerging from a structure naked.
“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,” he said.
However, Qolani’s lawyers, the Legal Resources Centre could not confirm this yesterday, saying only: “We will reserve our comments until we have seen the independent report.
“We cannot comment on the video as it has not been authenticated by an independent party.
“Our client has provided his version of events in an affidavit in proceedings currently before the court.”
A 28-year-old unemployed taxi driver, Qolani had just returned from the Eastern Cape after burying his aunt when the incident occurred.
Cape Times