
A South African man has been charged with attempted murder after throwing his six-month-old daughter off the top of a shack in an illegal township to stop it being demolished.

The 38-year-old had taken the baby and climbed on top of their home in protest against dozens of shacks at a township in Kwadwesi, near Port Elizabeth on South Africa's eastern cape coast being lined up for destruction.

As half-a-dozen policemen lined up on the ground below him and one climbed up to try to talk him down, the man dangled the baby over the edge by her ankle, before swinging her over the edge.

Horror: This is the moment the man throws his baby daughter over the edge of a roof, having climbed up onto the building during a protest in Kwadwesi, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Township protesters could be heard egging the agitated dad on with chants of: 'Throw, throw, throw'.

Images show the police officer on the roof rushing forward to grab the father but not before he threw the baby.

Fortunately, the girl was caught by the policemen standing below, and did not suffer any injuries.

The father was arrested and handcuffed and was officially charged by police with attempted murder.

The drama happened after 90 shacks built illegally at the Joe Slovo township in Kwadwesi were ordered to be demolished.

Protest: The man had climbed onto the roof with the baby girl in a desperate attempt to stop the demolition of the corrugated iron shack where they live near Port Elizabeth

Bad parenting: The man gestures to a police officer to stand back, as he stand on the roof holding his six-month-old baby daughter

Shock drop: After dangling and swinging the baby over the end of the shack, he dropped her - fortunate the baby was caught by police

Horror: The shock on the police officer's face and the fear of the screaming baby is all too clear in the photo of the moment she is thrown off the roof

The South African Police Service had been sent in to ensure the safety of the demolition team as 150 protesters began serious rioting throwing bricks and closing off roads with burning tyres.

As calm was being restored this man climbed onto the roof of his shack with his child and threatened to throw her to her death if the demolishers did not back off and leave his home alone.

When negotiators failed to talk him down a rescue plan was launched by police which ended successfully with the fathers' arrest and the safe recovery of the toddler who was thrown off the shack.

Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge told local media: 'At about 10.40am a 38-year-old man climbed onto the roof of one of the structures and held a one-year-old girl in his hands.

'This was done to force the team not to demolish the structure.

Down: Seconds after the man dropped the baby off the roof, he was tackled by a police officer and arrested, to later be charged with attempted murder

'Due to the dangerous threat to the safety of the child police set out a plan to rescue the little girl and arrest the male and one of our officers successfully caught the girl as she was flung.

'The 38-year-old father has been charged with the attempted murder of his daughter and the case is being handled by the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit'.

Captain Beetge said the baby has been handed back to the 35-year-old mother and their case is being overseen by local social services to ensure the child is in a place of safety.

The Motherwell Cluster Commander Major General Dawie Rabie praised the police actions.

He said: 'It is shocking that a father would attempt to sacrifice his own child for the sake of delaying the demolishing of an illegal shack structure but thankfully the girl was saved.

'The father will face the full force of the Law for his actions' he said.

The demolition team then moved in and successfully destroyed 90 structures that had been built illegally on unowned land.