- Eight VIP Unit officers captured on video assaulting men on the N1 highway have been issued with suspension letters.
- Police commissioner General Fannie Masemola said the victims had been traced and a criminal case opened.
- The officers were attached to Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s security detail.
Eight members of the police’s VIP unit, who were caught assaulting two men on the N1 highway in Johannesburg, have been issued with suspension notices and “temporarily” removed from their posts.
This is according to police commissioner General Fannie Masemola.
“Once we were alerted of the incident, we moved with speed and launched a probe to identify both the victims and our members, as well as to establish the circumstances that surround that incident,” he said during a media briefing at the Vanderbijlpark police station.
“I can now confirm that those members have been identified and are currently being subjected to our internal processes, in line with our Discipline Regulations of 2016, and Labour Relations prescripts.
READ | Mashatile’s office says VIP cops seen assaulting people are part of his detail, but he wasn’t there
“Thus far, eight members have been issued with suspension notices and temporarily removed from their posts pending the outcome of our investigation.”
Masemola added that the victims had also been traced and that a criminal case had been opened.
He reiterated that the South African Police Service did not condone the behaviour displayed by the VIP Unit members.
While the outcome of the investigation was still pending, he said no amount of provocation could ever justify what had been seen in the video.
Masemola said:
We generally follow a very stringent process to identify members that should be protecting our principals, so for those members to have conducted themselves in such a manner, is quite concerning.
He also took pains to point out the requisite legislation that empowers police to use blue lights and exceed the speed limit if it is in the execution of their duties.
“In terms of Regulation 176 and 185 of the National Road Traffic Regulations of 2000, any member of the service can use blue lights and sirens if necessary in order to execute his/her duties. Therefore, when members are on convoy, they are permitted to use blue lights. This should be done taking into account the safety of other road users,” he said.
“Please note that a police official may exceed the general speed limit with or without the use of a blue flashing light, provided that he/she drives the vehicle in the execution of duties necessitating this and with due regard and careful consideration of the safety of other road users.”
Brutal attack
News24 previously reported that the occupants of the blue Volkswagen Polo initially thought they were being hijacked, as the VIP officers had allegedly tried to ram them off the road.
Forcing the Polo to a stop on the side of the highway, several officers allegedly got out and tried to break the driver’s window with an assault rifle.
This is according to Ian Cameron, leader of civil rights organisation Action Society, which is pursuing civil charges against the minister of police on behalf of the driver of the Polo.
READ | VIP officers who allegedly assaulted three people on Gauteng highway identified, victims ‘traced’
“They smashed the window with the back of an assault rifle and gained access to the vehicle. They then hit him [the driver] with one of the assault rifles to the back of the head, injuring his ear and jaw, after which they dragged him from the vehicle,” Cameron said.
In a video, which captures part of the incident, the men can be seen being dragged from the Polo. Officers with their weapons drawn can be seen standing around, while at least two of the VIP members start kicking the men as they lie on the ground.
Soon after the video went public, it emerged that the officers were attached to Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s security detail.
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