Cape Argus has made queries with the Department of Social Development (DSD) and the SAPS after a 13-second video surfaced of a four-year-old boy allegedly being forced to drink Black Label beer.
The shocking video shows the little boy squatting on the ground, holding the bottle of beer in one hand and a glass in the other. He is seen drinking a glass of the beer and is being told by a male person to drink it: “Sluk, sluk (drink it, swallow it).” The boy is visibly sick by the taste and puts on a brave face, proceeding to pour another glass of the beer and then passing it to the man. The man can be heard laughing.
It is understood the child is from Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain.
Numerous bottles of the beer can be seen standing around the child, whose legs also seem to be badly bruised, including his arms. The video comes just weeks after the Cape Argus’s article of a similar video in Woodstock, where a mother was filmed feeding her toddler alcohol, which led to public outrage.
The disturbing footage, which emerged on October 20, showed a woman pouring alcohol into a child’s mouth while onlookers laughed. The video was widely shared on social media and quickly circulated among Metro Police Neighbourhood Safety Officers (NSOs) and other safety stakeholders, triggering an urgent search to locate the woman and the child.
Authorities responded swiftly to the incident. NSOs successfully tracked the woman down in Woodstock after combing known hotspots and surrounding areas. The child was immediately rescued and removed from the mother’s care.
The toddler was first taken to the SAPS victim support unit before being placed in the custody of the DSD.
Ward Councillor Yusuf Mohamed explained the mother already had a history of neglect: “DSD arrived within 20 minutes and informed us that the mother already has a case of neglect against her. Earlier this year, she was allegedly intoxicated and dropped her child. The child was subsequently taken away and moved to a place of safety. The child was only eventually given back to her about six days ago, but now we have this footage. The child is now in a place of safety.”
Police confirmed that Woodstock SAPS was aware of the circulating video.
Cape Argus
