BusinessLive reports that a convoy of Presidential Protection Services (PPS) vehicles without a VIP principal on board does not enjoy any privileges above that of any motorist and should have been immediately charged, say security and training experts.
When those protectors cause any harm along the way – whether beating up another motorist or hitting a pedestrian – and leave the injured behind before calling in assistance from the uniformed SAPS and emergency services, it constitutes another crime. Pointing a firearm at an unarmed driver is another criminal offence. As such, the eight protectors involved in the recent incident on the N1 highway when a soldier was beaten unconscious, and another Defence Force recruit was dragged from their vehicle, should have been criminally charged immediately. The incident was captured on another motorist’s dashcam. The protectors were part of deputy president Paul Mashatile’s security team, but he was not in the convoy at the time. “For me this incident just reeks of a power trip with political backup,” retired Maj-Gen Chris Botha, former chief of research and curriculum in the SA Police Service, commented. Maj-Gen Wally Rhoode, who was implicated in the ‘Phala Phala’ scandal, is the head of the Presidential Protection Service. He is now in charge of disciplinary action against the eight protectors involved in the assault. All eight have been served notices of suspension, but another former senior officer in the SAPS said there was provision in the police’s disciplinary regulations for an expeditious process to summarily dismiss them. The regulations defines assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, any act of misconduct which detrimentally affects the image of the SAPS or brings the SAPS into disrepute, and any contravention of the Firearms Controls Act as misconduct for expeditious dismissal.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Erika Gibson at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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