by Shaun Harris
Special To The Final Call

JOHANNESBURG�South Africans witnessed for themselves the brutality and outright racism of six white policemen, who set attack dogs on three Black men in a 1998 "training exercise." The scenes were shown by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the country�s national TV station, the night of Nov. 7.

Two days later, the officers were charged with attempted murder and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm. Their case will be heard in the city of Pretoria, which is also the headquarters for the South African police force, but has been adjourned until Nov. 17.

The three victims are thought to be illegal immigrants. They were beaten inside a minibus before being pulled out one by one. The first young man was told to run into a waist high field of grass as a dog was set on him. He screamed in pain as the dog bit into his legs. After a few moments, a white officer ran up and started to kick and hit the Black man, who had started to beat the dog off of him.

"Get off the dog, kaffir! Leave the dog alone," the officer repeatedly shouted, using a derogatory name for Blacks. The dog bit into the man�s legs and arms. When he got up and started to run the policeman punched him in the face, knocking him down once again, so the dog could savage him.

The 40-minute videotape was shot by a police officer two-years-ago, reportedly for training purposes. It has also been said that the videotape was shown at training sessions and barbecues where other police officers met.

After the first young Black man was brought back from the field of high grass to the waiting vehicle, he was made to stand and show his wounds.

Then as he was forced into the minibus, another man was pulled out, told to stand and wait. Two policemen teased their leashed dogs, just a few feet away from the helpless man. The dogs were set on the man, who screamed for help, as animals teeth tore into his flesh and ripped his clothes.

The man pleaded for the "boss" to stop and pull the dogs off, only to laughter and squeals of delight for the officers. The man was then stood up, showed his wounds and forced into the vehicle.

The fate of the third victim was no better, as he was forced out of the minibus. Several police dogs were unleashed on him, leaving bite marks and torn clothes. At times he wrestled with not only three and four dogs, but also the boots and fists of policemen.

Black South Africans constantly had police dogs used against them during the days of white minority rule and apartheid. But since 1994, once the African National Congress (ANC) came to power, the instances where police dogs were set on the innocent was thought to have fallen.

Government officials and the Human Rights Commission condemned the police behavior. The videotape was first shown at a private screening with television cameras present, to the police commissioner and safety and security minister, Steve Tshwete. He was visibly upset by the scenes shown as he and other top officers watched.

After the showing, the police commissioner said the officers should be arrested immediately. They were picked up later that day, before the airing of "Special Assignment" on SABC, which displayed the horrors to the entire country.

Earlier this year, the world was shocked by scenes captured by a BBC-TV crew, that showed the beating and kicking of two mixed race carjackers. Police officers then dragged out two seriously injured men after the car crashed and beat them. One man later died in the hospital of his wounds.

Last year, another dog unit was closed down because of acts of brutality.

Many Blacks say police have a long way to go to shed the tactics and attitudes bred when they served under apartheid.

Many of those who saw the film footage reeled in disbelief and shame at the inhumane, savage attack by the policemen and their dogs.

"We are in a very deep state of depression. You cannot know how we are suffering with these three guys. We can�t trust white policemen. We just can�t trust them," said one of many thousands of emotional viewers who got through to the jammed switch board of the largest newspaper office in Johannesburg after seeing the footage.

Another caller said: "All this will do is set Black and white people against each other."

The word on the street is this was not a one time "training exercise," with South Africans in Johannesburg saying suspected illegal immigrants are regularly brutalized by Black and white officers. The illegal migrants from other African countries are blamed for taking jobs and committing crimes. Many residents in and around Johannesburg believe the illegal immigrants should be "sent home to Africa" and have no rights as long as their immigration status is illegal.

The film footage leaves a lot of unanswered questions:

If the videotape was taken two-years-ago, why has it only recently surfaced? If it was shown at police stations and training sessions, why didn�t Black officers report the atrocities, or was it a well kept white secret?

There also are questions about how many other suspected illegal immigrants have been used as training aids since the videotape was made. The officers on the tape were still on duty and had worked with dog units around the country until their arrests.

Simon Mpembe, deputy police commissioner for Gauteng Province, said, not all policemen and women are like those on the videotape. The rogues on the force make dedicated officers embarrassed, Mr. Mpembe said.