Council promises action after municipal officer slaps woman at Mbare Banking Hall
The City of Harare has promised disciplinary action against an off-duty municipal police officer who was caught on video slapping a woman inside a banking hall in Mbare, in an incident the council admits was sparked by queue-jumping.
The local authority issued a statement on Friday after the video began circulating widely on social media.
“The City of Harare is aware of a video circulating on social media in which an off-duty municipal police officer is seen slapping a woman in the banking hall in Mbare,” the council said in the statement.
According to the City, the officer had gone to the banking hall while off duty and jumped the queue, “a development which infuriated the woman”.
The council said that according to the woman’s own written account, she confronted the officer, pushing and shoving him. The City claimed it had established that the woman also bit the officer on the finger and he had to be treated at a clinic.
This resulted in an altercation and the officer slapped the woman. The council argued that the video being circulated did not show the earlier stages of the confrontation as it was edited out.
The council added that both were arrested by the police for public violence and were later released. The City said its own internal process would continue.
“We will take action against the municipal police officer,” the council said, adding that as the issue is under police investigation, further details would be provided once the probe is complete.
The video has triggered public outrage, with residents accusing municipal police of heavy-handedness. It is the latest in a string of incidents that have put Harare Town House in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
A day earlier, City Parking, the City of Harare-owned parking management company, was forced into a midnight apology over another incident.
A mother rushing her sick child for emergency medical attention had her vehicle clamped moments after parking.
Her car was clamped immediately after efforts to negotiate with the parking marshal fell on deaf ears. The video of the incident went viral.
The case was reminiscent of a January incident in the CBD where a father died after his car was clamped. *_-Pindula_*
