A man was arrested in Harbour Road, Hout Bay on Tuesday morning for urinating in an open space around 8am.
A video has surfaced online showing a City of Cape Town traffic officer wrestling with the man dressed in a green jumpsuit.
He places his knee on the man's back. The man can be heard shouting continuously: “Is this right?”, while the crowd can be heard saying: “Maak 'n video”.
The man says: “Is this right, ouens? You getting dragged down for a f**king p*ss. A bloody p*ss. Daa’ is die tsotsis, daa’ is die paras, a f**king p*ss. Are you crazy? Where is your f**king humanity, jou n**i.”
The officer is seen talking on his walkie talkie when Deep Blue Operation, Law Enforcement and Metro Police shows up.
The crowd continues to shout at the officers and can be heard saying: "Die hele boere [police] vir 'n p***. I am going to p*** whole day on the road because there isn’t a toilet at work.”
Kevin Jacobs, spokesperson for the City Traffic Services, explains: “A traffic officer found a man urinating in the street on Harbour Road, Hout Bay.
"The officer wanted to issue a notice for urinating in public, but the suspect did not want to furnish any of his personal information.
"The officer instructed him to provide the information, the individual did not comply and fled the scene. The officer caught the suspect and arrested him.”
“The Streets, Public Places and the Prevention of Noise Nuisances By-law, 2007 states that: No person shall in a public place, urinate or defecate, except in a toilet, appear in the nude or expose his or her genitalia, except where designated by the City as areas where nudity is permitted, provided that this shall not apply to children below the age of seven.”
The man was charged with failure to comply with a lawful instruction, resisting arrest and riotous behaviour.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Malcolm Pojie said that the suspect was released on a warning to appear in the local magistrates court on Thursday, 13 March 2025.
The video was posted by Fight Against Crime South Africa on Facebook and did not sit well with mense who took to social media to express their opinion.
Zaid Essack commented, “Urinating in public should be a fine at most or just give that man a warning and not an arrest. Why not handle real crime like you handling this oukie.”
Lidesna Pillay added, “Really pathetic. Such a lot of vehicles for a man caught urinating. Go and patrol where the shootings take place because there’s no visible police.”