Legal woes are mounting for Zanzou Lounge, a prominent club in Pretoria, after torture videos became public.
The disturbing videos showed instances of horrible human rights violations against young men, including sexual torture and abuse.
The videos have shocked the collective conscience of the nation, and the Democratic Alliance (DA) is questioning how the establishment is operating as a nightclub, claiming it is illegal.
[BREAKING] Zanzou Bar & Lounge responds to sexual abuse video, blames former security personnel for using excessive force against alleged cellphone thieves at Pretoria nightclub. @ZinikokaMhlaba reports.
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The Democratic Alliance’s Tshwane branch is investigating whether the establishment is complying with the city’s bylaws.
Investigations by news station eNCA revealed that Zanzou was classified as a Category 1 company, and current laws prohibit it from running a nightclub. In doing so, it is contravening the City of Tshwane’s zoning restrictions.
Incidentally, the DA had the strip closed after a murder in the nightclub. The mayor and MEC ordered the strip to be closed, with contraventions issued by the City of Tshwane.
The leaked videos showed many disturbing visuals, including a man begging for his life after a torture session and numerous instances of young men being tortured.
Dikeledi Selowa, DA spokesperson for health, stated:
“Zanzou went quite a while without operating. From yesterday (Monday), we discovered that it is not even categorized and zoned correctly. So, the business has been operating illegally.”
The disturbing videos detailing the happenings at Zanzou were made public by Pablo, a Congolese man. Pablo released another video on TikTok on Tuesday. The video depicts a man wearing a hoodie and nude from the waist down, pinned to the ground by another man who had placed his legs over the victim’s chest, as the victim begged for his life.
The victim was screaming that he was a student from the University of Limpopo and did not want to have anything to do with the people in the nightclub.
Zanzou Bar & Lounge in Pretoria, Hatfield💔💔 pic.twitter.com/FQC4ib4zjR
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Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission has appealed to social media users not to spread the videos, stating that doing so is illegal under South African law.
The City of Tshwane has stated that it has recovered 45 videos showing clientele being abused by Zanzou nightclub security. Three victims have filed cases alleging that they were tortured by Zanzou nightclub security. The police are on the lookout for at least eight people.
Most of the videos depict customers being abused by bouncers at Zanzou, and they were shot by a former employee at the club, who claimed that he left the job because he could not bear the violent culture at the venue.
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