A man was expected to appear in the Mdantsane Magistrate's Court on Monday to face charges of kidnapping and assault after a video of a 12-year-old boy chained to a dog kennel went viral.

The 25-year-old suspect was arrested on Friday after the disturbing video was shared on Facebook.

The child can be seen chained to a wire cage, crying uncontrollably, while shocked community members can be heard trying to console him.

"We were alerted by members of the community that a boy was chained in a dog kennel at a home in NU8, an area in Mdantsane,” said Cambridge police spokesperson Capt Mluleki Mbi.

Mbi said the boy, who lived with his grandmother in the NU1 area, was allegedly kidnapped from the Esplanade in East London before being taken to the house where he was found.

In the video, he can be heard telling community members that he had spent the night in the cage and that the person who took him there had threatened to feed him to his dogs.

Mdi said the child had been taken home but the department of social development would look into his living conditions.

The Daily Dispatch reported on Monday that the grandmother declined to open a case against the man because he had previously "rescued" the troubled child, who had dropped out of school, from the streets.