Depiction of a public lynching in San Francisco in 1856. Photo from Wikimedia (public domain).
5 February 2014
A disturbing video taken with a cell phone shows a man being beaten up brutally in Khayelitsha. It was placed in evidence at the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry yesterday.
The video was entered into evidence yesterday by Mr Chumile Sali. He was the secretary for the Harare Community Police Forum during 2012. The video was circulating on WhatsApp and mXit in Khayelitsha during 2012.
It is of a man suspected of robbery. He was caught by residents in Khayelitsha, stripped naked and beaten. Although the video was entered into evidence, it was not shown publicly to the audience at the Commission due to its graphic nature. Children can be seen joining in the vigilante justice, still in their school uniforms. This sort of mob justice is common in Khayelitsha, where police are not seen as helpful or capable.
The video is difficult to watch and unsettling. Usually we upload videos onto Youtube and embed it in our articles so that you simply click the play button to watch it. We have intentionally made it inconvenient to view this video so that you have to consider carefully whether to watch it. Below is a link to a zipped file containing the video. To view it you will need to download it, then unzip it and then open it using your video software.
Disturbing video depicting graphic “vigilante justice” violence in Khayelitsha
We have been asked what happened to the man in the video. Despite our efforts to find out, we do not know. Anyone with information on whether he survived and where he is today should please let us know by emailing info [at] groundup.org.za.