A video showing a man running from a police van until he is crushed against the wall has sparked outrage in the community of Naas in Komatipoort.

The man is seen trying to stand up only to fall down again due to his trauma. Then an officer is seen dragging him to the back of the police van.

The man was part of the community members who on Friday embarked on a chaotic protest demanding recognition from the department of corporative governance and traditional for their local chief.

In the video, community members are heard saying "the police are  wrong, why did they knock him down?"

Spokesperson of the Mpumalanga police brigadier Leonard Hlathi told Sowetan that the police had opened a reckless and negligent driving against the officers.

"We have opened a negligent and reckless driving case against the officers, internally we are also investigating the matter. We have taken statements from the man in question and when we had to take the case to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate they told us that as the police we should take over that  investigation," said Hlathi.