Riot Hlatshwayo

Riot Hlatshwayo

"Insensitive and uncaring."

That's how Robert Nyathi, 46, a patient, described the behaviour of police after they left him injured on the road following a hit-and-run accident.

He was admitted to the Mapulaneng Hospital in Bushbuckridge after the accident, which he attributed "to direct police negligence". The police were allegedly chasing a car that hit him.

Nyathi, of Thulamahashe township, said he was walking along the street in the township on Saturday evening when he was knocked down by a speeding vehicle with no lights.

"The vehicle hit me but drove off. Then I saw the police in another vehicle chasing the vehicle that hit me," Nyathi said yesterday.

He said despite his lying on the ground in pain the police drove past the scene and only returned minutes later to take him to Thulamahashe Health Centre. He was then transferred to the Mapulaneng Hospital.

"As you can see my left leg is broken and doctors had to put it in plaster," Nyathi said. "These police officers are roughing people up."

He said he would have been all right had the police not been chasing the vehicle that hit him.

The police had been on a special mission dubbed Operation High Density - a festive season crime prevention initiative. They were targeting people who were drinking in public.

Mpumalanga police spokesman Superintendent Abie Khoabane said: "Operation High Density is aimed at preparing for the festive season crime prevention strategies. Anyone who believes the members assaulted or did something unacceptable to them has the right to report the matter."