A report by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has found that no misconduct was committed by SAPS when a water cannon was used to disperse hundreds of social grant recipients queueing outside Sassa in Bellville earlier this year.
The incident occurred on January 15, during Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu’s two-day visit to Cape Town to assess several Sassa offices.
The report which has been seen by GroundUp, said that “there were no lesser interventions at the disposal of SAPS” to disperse a crowd refusing to move and that no complaints were received of injuries from the incident.
It also said police members sprayed water into the air and not directly onto the crowd for two seconds, after a warning and that the disabled group of Sassa beneficiaries was already helped and were not part of the disorderly group, who refused to disperse on the SAPS’s request.
The Western Cape legislature’s Standing Committee on Social Development has requested that SAPS and IPID account for a report which exonerates all involved in water-bombing vulnerable Sassa clients.
People sprayed if they don’t social distance at #Sassa Bellville @TeamNews24 pic.twitter.com/rEQBrGNrry
— Jenni Evans (@itchybyte) January 15, 2021