Premier of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has found himself caught in a quagmire after video footage of him pummelling an unarmed civilian surfaced on social media.
Watch: Sihle Zikalala goes rogue
At the height of emotions, the Premier lost his cool against a male civilian who was seen carrying what is suspected to be looted goods in Riverhorse Valley, north of Durban, on Wednesday.
Without thoroughly probing the man on where he’d purchased the goods he was carrying, Zikalala, a high-ranking political official and leader of the province, resorted to scenes rarely ever seen from a person of his stature.
This is the footage that has since gone viral on social media:
Hayibo…Is This Our Premier? I Thought Our Leaders Are Supposed To Engage With The Communities! pic.twitter.com/fcWZjLGv6T
— Dudu Zuma-Sambudla (@DZumaSambudla) July 15, 2021
Our attempts to get a statement from the office of the Premier were unsuccessful. Zikalala has yet to resurface with an update on the provincial government’s response to the unrest taking place in hotspot areas like Phoenix.
This is how social media reacted to the assault:
Then I see an insert of Premier Sihle Zikalala nearly falling while beating up a young boy trying to arrest him. Amen! Mayivalwe for today!!
— Lukhona Mnguni (@LukhonaMnguni) July 14, 2021
@CyrilRamaphosa why is Sihle Zikalala still Premier of KZN? Is the reason why he was on the ground yesterday to assaults citizens#PhoenixMassacre pic.twitter.com/Sim8DVIhoU
— Jules ️ ️ (@Dr_PooneGreen) July 15, 2021
The center is not holding Sihle Zikalala is also executing his duties as instructed #PhoenixMassacre pic.twitter.com/7TEIYLCHl9
— Black Queen (@NdlovuPowen) July 15, 2021
The video of Sihle Zikalala manhandling that boy sent me imagine being processed by the Premier on national tv
— Sibz Mtonga (@Sibzmantic) July 15, 2021
