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News24 reports that the lawyer representing eight police officers who were captured on video assaulting the occupants of a VW Polo in July 2023 on the N1 highway argued in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday that the case should be thrown out of court due to a lack of evidence.
The officers, who are all out on R10,000 bail each, face 12 charges, including assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, malicious damage to property, reckless driving, and obstruction of justice. Footage of the incident, which circulated widely on social media, showed the officers brandishing rifles and pistols as they assaulted the trainee soldiers in the VW Polo. Despite the video evidence, the officers were reinstated to non-operational office roles in October 2023 after their suspensions lapsed.
Their advocate, Mswazi Makhubele, argued that the court could not rely on the evidence presented by the State and challenged the admissibility of the video footage that captured the assault. He said the victims failed to identify which of the eight officers assaulted the victims or damaged their vehicle. Makhubele also said two of the accused could not be prosecuted for assault because they were not at the scene.
On the charge of defeating the ends of justice, Makhubele argued that the charge was vague. He added that the State could not rely on the principle of common purpose as there was no evidence of a conspiracy between the officers before the incident. Makhubele questioned the testimony of the State’s video expert, arguing that he did not conform to the police checklist required to analyse the footage and did not have access to the original recording device. Magistrate Abdul Khan reserved judgment on the application for 9 October.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tankiso Makhetha at News24 (subscription / trial registration required)
- Read too, Mashatile bodyguards want implicating video excluded as evidence, at SABC News
Get other news reports at the SA LabourNews home page