Evicted Bulelani Qolani demands City of Cape Town pay damages for humiliation, bodily harm

Bulelani Qolani, the man who was seen in a video being dragged naked from his shack by City of Cape Town law enforcement officers on Wednesday. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)

Bulelani Qolani, the man who was seen in a video being dragged naked from his shack by City of Cape Town law enforcement officers on Wednesday. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Jul 3, 2020

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Cape Town – Bulelani Qolani, the Khayelitsha resident humiliated by City of Cape Town law enforcement officers who forcefully dragged him naked out of his one-room shack, has rejected mayor Dan Plato’s apology, saying the officers’ actions were intentional.

He is demanding the City pay damages for the humiliation and bodily harm its officers caused him.

Qolani has also called for JP Smith, Mayco member for safety and security, and human settlements Mayco member Malusi Booi to be fired.

“For City officials, including Plato, to act like they care when they really don't, it makes me sick. Plato and his government are showing their true colours now and what they represent in the Western Cape,” Qolani said.

Officers on Wednesday manhandled Qolani while he was naked, as they tried to demolish his shack. He had been bathing at the time they stormed his house. The incident was caught on video, which shows the officers forcefully pushing Qolani and dragging him from his shack in front of many other residents.

The officers have since been suspended. Police from the Harare police station in Khayelitsha are also investigating contraventions to the Disaster Management Act; malicious damage to property; assault and crimen injuria after Qolani lodged a complaint yesterday.

No one has been arrested yet. 

Plato said yesterday the City did not tolerate the officers' conduct.

“While the investigation into the conduct of the law enforcement officers and the circumstances surrounding the situation is ongoing, as the mayor of this city I want to acknowledge that Mr Qolani’s dignity was impaired and I am truly sorry for what he experienced.

“This particular area in Khayelitsha was illegally invaded during the first weeks of the national lockdown and the City responded to requests from the local community to remove the illegally erected structures. The City-owned land has been earmarked for the installation of services for the surrounding community,” Plato said.

Later in the day Plato spoke to eNCA and accused Qolani of "tactically" undressing himself before law enforcement officers approached his informal structure.

Plato said he had spent Thursday afternoon watching footage of the incident recorded by officials. He said the footage he had seen painted a different story and said the officers had seen the man clothed at another shack before finding him next in the structure.

"Moments before our officials moved to that structure that person did have clothes on... Initially he was not in the structure, he was standing in the previous structure and moved into the structure and the officers moved in.

"When he was standing in the doorway, and I do have pictures right here in front me, he had clothes on and when the officers moved into the structure he did not have clothes on," said the mayor. 

Plato said the act of dwellers stripping themselves naked and standing naked in front of structures was "common", adding it was not the first time, nor would it be the last time such an incident happened.

Meawhile the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has said there’s been a clear violation of Qolani’s rights and has called on national and provincial structures to get involved.

“The actions depicted in the footage are a clear violation of the right to human dignity, the right to freedom and security of the person - particularly the right not to be subjected, to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way, among numerous other human rights violations. 

"There was recklessness among the officials about whether the victim would be humiliated and his dignity violated. This action does not belong to the democratic South Africa,” the commission said.

“The commission understands that the land in question belongs to

the City of Cape Town and the

commission has on numerous

occasions warned against and called

for communities – despite their

desperation to secure housing – to

refrain from unlawful land invasions. 

“Similarly, the commission

reiterates that evictions, demolitions

and the removal of people from land

needs to be conducted within the

limits of human rights as set out in

chapter two of the Constitution, the

law and human decency.” 

Department of Human

Settlements, Water and Sanitation

spokesperson Yonela Diko said

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu will

challenge the City’s “illegal

evictions”. 

“The barbaric eviction of a

resident, humiliated as he fought

for his basic right to shelter, is

unconscionable. All evictions need a court order

and no court would have granted

an eviction order against explicit

lockdown regulations. 

"The City

must have therefore evicted people

without authority or lied to the

court. The minister is very clear that

the state, at all levels, has a higher

obligation to treat its citizens with

the utmost dignity, to follow the law

and protect the people,” said Diko.

Cape Times

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