A publicity stunt by a well-known TikTok creator backfired after his followers slammed him for pretending he was being arrested.
A 17 second video clip shows Cedric Laguma aka Uncle Cedric walking down the corridor of Mitchells Plain Police station with his hands behind his back accompanied by a cop who is blurred out.
He repeatedly tells the person filming, ‘moet my nie record nie’, to which the person replies, ‘hey,voetsek, hou jou bek.’
Concerned viewers wanted to know why he was arrested and why cops were making videos instead of solving crime.
The video has since been deleted.
However, the joke might be on Laguma as police spokesperson Captain F.C Van Wyk confirmed that while he was not arrested, no permission was given for filming inside the cop shop.
‘Kindly be advised that there is no record of the individual being arrested. SAPS management became aware of the said video clip today. There is no authorisation for this video and the making thereof, and an internal investigation will be initiated.”
When Daily Voice reached out to Laguma he said that he was at the police station to make an enquiry.
He said he was allowed to film because it is a public place.
“I don’t understand why people would have an issue with the video, there was no police involved in the video, it was my friend recording me and that is why the officer was blurred out because I was not under arrest and there was no caption stating that I am under arrest.
“From my understanding the police station is a public area and as long as I am not showing anybody's faces it should be fine. The police did not know I was shooting because I did not require their permission. The only time I ask for permission is when people’s faces are in the video.”
marsha.dean@inl.co.za