Picture: Screengrab
CAPE TOWN - The Woodstock police were at the scene of an attack on an elderly man shown in a now widely circulated video.
Detectives were at the Gateway to Obz where the incident reportedly took place. The video of the incident showed a disoriented man being assaulted by a younger man, identified as an 18-year-old from Ysterplaat.
The clip shows the 18-year-old with a friend recording the footage, and who could be heard saying to him, “Kykie, this guy is spitting in your face ... are you going to leave it like that?”
He further prompts him to do something by saying, “you can't leave it like this”.
The elderly man then steps forward and says something unintelligible, when the 18-year-old punches him in the face. The elderly man collapses, and the two then walk off, ending the video.
Several unconfirmed reports claimed that the man had died and was homeless. None of these have been confirmed as yet.
The Observatory Improvement District (OBSID) Area Manager, Stoney Steenkamp said they were aware of the footage, but did not know any further details.
OBSID provides public safety services, cleaning and greening services and outreach services for the homeless.
They said they did not have any “investigating powers” in such matters, and would instead report such cases to the police for further investigation.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said: “This office knows about the video clip going around on social media, however this office has no record of this matter (incident not reported).”
He said, however, that the Woodstock police were looking into the matter.
An employee at a business on the premises shared anonymously that her husband informed her of an assault he witnessed at around 5:10pm on Saturday, while waiting for her in the car, just outside her workplace.
“He saw that these two guys just attacked him. I don't know what he said to them but he said something to them … and when I got there the guy was gone.”
She said there was no police or ambulance on the scene when she arrived at the car.
The Western Cape Health Department has yet to respond to enquiries over the incident.
– Cape Argus