Angry commuters are calling for a Golden Arrow bus driver to be sacked after he had a young man thrown off a bus and arrested.
A video of the incident has been shared on Facebook, showing 25-year-old Marlon Petersen of Strandfontein being manhandled by two cops, after a quarrel with the driver over a bus stop.
Police confirmed Marlon was taken in for questioning by Woodstock police and released the same day.
Cops are now calling for witnesses to lodge a case against the two officers who were filmed by commuters “pushing and dragging” Marlon out of the 3.30pm Bayview bus (No. 4792) from Cape Town on Friday afternoon.
The incident happened in front of Woodstock Police Station in Victoria Road.
The 40-second video was posted by Allison Cloete who said: “The driver got upset because he was being backchatted to and (the guy) refused to get out,” she says.
The video shows Marlon standing at the door and the officers pulling him by his pants.
One commuter tells the policemen to “go and look for the criminals, not for a person on the bus”, while a woman shouts, “driver you are a p***!”
Marlon falls to the ground, before being picked up by cops and marched to the police station with his hands held above his head.
Video of commuter being removed from by cops went viral on social media CREDIT: Facebook
Allison said later, in Strandfontein Road, the driver stopped the bus and called an inspector while passengers got off in protest.
Marlon, 25, who works for the City of Cape Town IT department, says it all started when he stood at the “wrong” bus stop.
“I was standing at the MyCiTi stop and when I signalled the driver, I ran a few paces to the Golden Arrow one,” he says.
“When I got on, he spoke of the bus stop and I said: ‘It’s fine, don’t stress’.
“He didn’t want to accept my money and told me to get out.
“I told him I only have R20 and that was the last bus before peak hour.
“He switched off the bus and refused to drive and the people began to complain.
“When I attempted to take his pic, he said I must take a pic of his mother. He drove to the police station and locked us inside (when he went in).”
Marlon says he fell out of the bus when the cops pulled him by the pants.
“My body is sore,” he adds.
He says after his release, the cop who grabbed him gave him bus fare “because he felt sorry afterwards”.
“I don’t want anything from the driver except for him to apologise because I wasn’t rude,” he says.
Lauren Lallie Hendrickse wrote on Facebook: “Golden Arrow bus services we don’t want to see this bus driver again.”
But Golden Arrow spokesperson, John Dammert, says the driver followed protocol when he had Marlon “arrested”.
“Golden Arrow buses are not permitted to collect passengers waiting at MyCiTi bus stops, the passenger refused to accept his (driver) explanation and as a result of the impasse, he proceeded to Woodstock Police Station to defuse the situation,” he says.
“The passenger continued to belligerently accuse the driver which led to his arrest.”
Lieutenant Colonel André Traut said: “The man was not arrested; anyone with a complaint against police in this regard is encouraged to approach the management of Woodstock police or IPID so that the circumstances can be investigated.”