News24 reports that according to policing experts, the firestorm surrounding Deputy President Paul Mashatile's VIP security team is just one example of a broader problem with police and politicians.

The experts were commenting after Mashatile's security team was caught on camera brutally assaulting three individuals on the N1 freeway in Johannesburg. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) is investigating the incident. Alex van den Heever of Social Security Systems Administration and Management Studies at Wits University's School of Governance said the actions of the VIP protection services were "a singular reflection of the wider problem". He commented: "Senior political office-bearers are contemptuous of the general public and their VIP protectors have absorbed this attitude. The politicians appear to both condone and revel in this conduct as it makes them seem more important." Independent violence monitor Mary de Haas said the political link between high-level security officials and politicians made the VIP units almost untouchable. “"It is problematic because there are people integrated into it for political reasons. Often, we see those officers integrated into VIP security receiving preferential treatment. They are known to pull rank on officers they have no authority over. The ordinary citizen knows what it is like to be pulled over by a cop. They [the police] never have proper identification, and they are defensive if you ask them about it. The general ethos of the police is disrespectful to the ordinary citizen.” She added that the state of the SAPS was one of the reasons why officers, even at the topmost level of the police, were poorly disciplined.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kaveel Singh at News24 (subscriber access only)

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