A radio and television broadcaster is alleging that he was assaulted by police officers as he was making his way out of the International Conference Centre at Liliendaal on Wednesday afternoon.
Ossie Rogers, a broadcaster attached to the NTN Channel 69 and NTN radio 89.1 FM, says that he sustained a swollen jaw and a broken spectacle as a result of the attack, during which he was allegedly slapped, kicked and punched.
Rogers is also alleging that he is a constant target of police officers attached to the Traffic Department of the Sparendaam Police Station, who would verbally abuse him and harass him. He described Wednesday’s ordeal as the most drastic episode as he is saying that he was physically attacked by the ranks.
According to Rogers, he went to the Conference Centre and was heading out when a female policewoman began to tell her co-workers, “Look is who, dah anti-man Ossie.” He said other ranks began to verbally abuse him, prompting him to exit his vehicle and upbraid them about their conduct.
As a result, he said one of the officers pointed his fingers in his face. In retaliation, Rogers stated that he pushed the policeman’s hand away from his face and the lawman slapped him. His glasses fell off and were broken by the assault, which left him with a swollen jaw.
Rogers noted that the ranks then kicked him and punched him in his cheek. A senior officer who was at the venue and observed what occurred came out and told him to make a report to the station but Rogers noted that he made a complaint to the Police Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), which is addressing the issue.
As recent as Saturday, the man said he was stopped and harassed by the ranks when he was asked to produce his documents. The man said his vehicle had a tint on its windows and while he applied for a tint permit, his application is still being processed. Rogers said he explained this to the rank but he paid him no heed and instead asked him to report to the station.
Rogers said he refused to do so and the policeman grabbed him by his crotch in an attempt to take him to the station. The man explained that he was humiliated by the rank’s action because he had other persons in his vehicle when the episode occurred.
However, prior to this, Rogers said that he was harassed on four consecutive days by a rank, whom he named and described as the main orchestrator of the police’s harassment of him. He said the rank, who had been present when he was assaulted on Wednesday, had asked him to produce his documents on all four occasions. He was also charged in February this year with failure to produce his documents when asked, among other charges, by the police officer but when the matter was called at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court it was thrown out the same day by the presiding magistrate, Rogers said.
