IPID finds “no misconduct” in using a water cannon on SASSA beneficiaries
7 May 2021
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) has found that no misconduct was committed by SAPS when a water cannon was used on a crowd of social grant recipients queueing outside the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) in Bellville earlier this year.
In the report, seen by GroundUp, IPID 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 the water was specifically sprayed in the air and not directly at people and only for a short time.
But the Western Cape legislature’s Standing Committee on Social Development has requested that SAPS and IPID be called to account for what it believes is a “disgraceful” report which “exonerates all involved in water-bombing vulnerable SASSA clients”.
On 15 January, the police (SAPS) were called to help with crowd control as hundreds of people were queuing outside SASSA in Bellville to renew their temporary disability grants.