THE situation is tense at Umlazi's V-section police station after a black officer was allegedly assaulted by his senior Indian counterpart

The tension was allegedly sparked by the use of vulgar language and racial slurs, leading to the manhandling and assault of Constable Detective Ntokozo Hlophe by his senior commander, Colonel KD Singh, on Tuesday.

A source at the station said Singh had asked Hlophe to make photocopies for leave planning forms, but Hlophe was unable to make the copies because he had too much work to do.

"When Singh came the following day and found that no copies had been done he went mad. He called him into his office where he grabbed, assaulted and pushed him around.

"He pushed him out of his office in full view of the public."

The source said the matter was reported to the station commissioner, who is known to Sowetan.

The commissioner allegedly did nothing about the matter.

The source said Singh had previously mistreated Hlophe .

"Actually, he treats him like his garden boy and previous incidents had also been reported to the previous station commissioner, who also did nothing."

Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Mdunge confirmed the incident, but denied it was a racial issue.

"The senior officer asked the constable to do leave forms but the constable was too busy with a case he was investigating and ended up not doing what his senior had asked him to do.

"He then called him to his office the next day and asked him why he did not do what he had asked him to do, and a commotion ensued," Mdunge said.

He said the senior officer banged his junior against the wall and pushed him out of the office in full view of the public.

"A case of common assault and intimidation is being investigated," he said.