A video of a young man being assaulted at Clifton’s 4th Beach is doing the rounds on social media.
The video started circulating on Friday evening as matriculants around Cape Town began their annual post-valedictory celebrations.
In the video, a teenager lying on the ground is brutally kicked in the face and attacked while other teenagers watch and cheer.
SAPS provincial commander, Colonel Andre Traut said the Camps Bay Police and other law enforcement agencies responded to an alleged fight at the beach on Friday evening.
“It was established that an individual was assaulted, but he refused to lodge an official complaint,” Traut said.
Although various people on Twitter commented saying the assaulted matric pupil died, Traut confirmed that this is untrue.
never going to clifton on days deemed as “matric celebration days”bc why are people being beat up on the beach !??? also too many people aum
— the leaky cauldRON👻🎃 (@ronsarchives_) October 1, 2021
Criminologist Guy Lamb told the Weekend Argus that the police could open investigations on cases like these depending on the seriousness of the case.
“This happens regularly, and the police won’t press charges unless it is within the public interest or if the victim or one of the affected parties are seriously injured.”
“They need to have a victim willing to testify in court, and they need to have witnesses,” he said.
Lamb said the police can still open an investigation on the assault at a later stage if it is within the public interest.
“If there is a lot of pressure applied and concerns are raised, this might happen. The police might be compelled to open a case.”