TimesLIVE reports that civil rights group Action Society is seeking a review of internal accountability at the SA Police Service (SAPS) after eight VIP protection unit officers were cleared of wrongdoing at a disciplinary hearing earlier this week.
The officers, filmed assaulting civilians on the N1 highway in July 2023, were members of Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s protection detail. They remain out on bail in their separate criminal trial. Action Society spokesperson Juanita du Preez called for a “full and transparent review” of the police inquiry because it could “send a dangerous message to both the public and the police: that state-sponsored brutality will be tolerated and even protected”. DA MP Ian Cameron, who chairs the parliamentary portfolio committee on police, also condemned the outcome. Ulrich Roux, legal representative for three of the civilians, said his clients were disappointed with the outcome but have not been deterred from pursuing criminal and civil charges. Lesiba Thobakgale of the SA Policing Union, which represented the officers at the internal inquiry, asserted that they were subjected to the appropriate disciplinary process and the chairperson acquitted them after assessing all the information presented. He said it would be unfair for public pressure to determine the outcome of internal processes. But, the DA said it did not accept the outcome, and had submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act application to obtain the record, decision and reasons for the acquittal.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Modiegi Mashamaite at BusinessLive
- Read too, DA slams internal SAPS hearing cleared VIP officers in highway assault, at IOL News
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