Metro police officers who were enforcing by-laws in Alexandra came under attack from hawkers who brutally assaulted them as the public watched.
The hawkers did not want the metro police offices impounding their goods and reacted violently to that.
A female officer was brutally assaulted by male hawkers and had to be taken to hospital for treatment.
According to the Johannesburg Metro Police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar, the officers were at the Pan African Mall in Alexandra on Sunday to enforce by-laws.
They then started impounding the goods of the hawkers who were trading on narrow streets and that was when they were attacked.
In a video that was taken at the scene, a man is seen brutally attacking the female officer, punching her. As he does, another man violently pushes a male officer who is nearby.
As the female officer is being assaulted, people surround them and another man hits her with something he’s holding.
innaar said the mob was targeting that female officer and he did not know why.
“Officers regrouped and returned to Pan African Mall where they arrested two suspects. The two were charged at Alexandra Police Station for assault and interfering with an officers in the execution of duty,” he said.
Officers went back to the mall on Tuesday for a bigger raid, he said.
