Johannesburg - South African police said yesterday six officers had been suspended for "despicable acts" after a BBC television documentary showed police severely beating handcuffed crime suspects.
The 12-minute film, which showed police physically attacking suspected car hijackers, brought an outcry from human rights lawyers who demanded wholesale reform of the police force.
But callers to the BBC's Johannesburg bureau and to local radio stations were almost universally supportive of the police, saying the alleged criminals got what they deserved.