A video circulating on social media shows a woman allegedly being manhandled by a number of Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) officers at a petrol station in Lyttleton, Pretoria, late on Tuesday night. 

According to civil society activist Yusuf Abramjee, the woman was alone and didn’t want to pull over in the dark fearing fake cops. She drove to a nearby petrol station where the officers proceeded to manhandle her. 

In the video, the woman exits her white VW Polo at around 23:25 as the metro officers approach her vehicle. She is then pulled toward a TMPD kombi by three male and one female officers. The seemingly distressed woman resists and appears to be calling for help. 

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A man wearing a yellow T-shirt and baseball cap attempts to intervene but is kept at a distance by one of the officers. 

The woman is then thrown to the ground by one of the officers, handcuffed and loaded into the police vehicle. 

TMPD spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba confirmed the incident to News24 on Friday. 

“We as the department are aware of the video and the incident that took place on the mentioned date and times and we can confirm that those members seen in the video are TMPD members,” Mahamba said.

“At this stage, [an] internal investigation is continuing and we have since obtained statements from the affected members. We can also state that the case is at an advance stage and we will be able to comment further after the chief of police has studied the docket opened and pronounced on the next step afterward.”

The identity of the woman is as yet unknown.