‘I saw my life flash before my eyes,’ says victim in Mashatile’s VIP Protection Unit assault case

5 Feb 2025

From a fun birthday weekend spent in Potchefstroom to being allegedly assaulted on the N1 highway in Johannesburg while heading to a military base in Tshwane. This is how the sixth witness and assault victim described his experience with Mashatile’s eight VIP protection officers during the case which resumed on Monday after an almost six-month break.

‘I saw my life flash in front of my eyes when I woke up as I saw the black BMW car beside the one I was with, men who had their rifle guns pointed at us. It was clear to me that we were the target.”

These are the words of the sixth witness who testified in the ongoing case against Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s eight VIP protection officers, who allegedly assaulted a group of military trainees on the N1 highway in Johannesburg.

According to the witness, who may not be named, it happened on Sunday, 2 July 2023, a day after celebrating his birthday when he and his colleagues had spent the weekend in Potchefstroom.

Rude awakening

The witness said he was among the occupants of the blue Polo Vivo that was confronted by the VIP Protection Unit’s vehicles and a victim of the alleged assault that followed. He said that as the military trainees drove from Potchefstroom, he had been sleeping in the car and had a rude awakening.

“What woke me was the motion of the vehicle, which seemed unusual, and the forceful braking. Before I asked, I spotted a black vehicle, a BMW beside the car I was in, with guns out and shouting at us to stop.

“Myself and the lady in the car called on the driver to stop the car who told us he would do so when it’s safe to do so. Before I knew it, two of [the vehicles] forced us off the road, one in front and the other on the side.

“The driver brought the car to a standstill and the first man opened the driver’s door asking him to get out of the car. My door was also opened next. While I tried to unbuckle myself from a seat belt I was slapped and dragged out of the car.

“It was when the assault took place [of] both the driver, a friend, and I. The driver in particular was assaulted until he ran out of consciousness,” the witness told the court.

Read more: We were protecting SA’s second most important citizen, says Mashatile protection officer in highway assault case

The witness said he did not understand most of what was going on, noting that the occupants of the Polo Vivo were neither armed nor presented any danger to the security detail, highlighting that he was a much smaller person than any of the accused.

He positively identified accused number five and eight from the scene of the incident. The court heard that these men were the two he had also identified at the ID parade. In court, he also identified accused number five and six when the video of the incident was replayed.

After the assault, the witness said he noticed damage to the car, including a broken window. He said the keys had been thrown out of the car so they had to carry the driver, who was unconscious, into the vehicle and search for the keys before heading to the military base in Tshwane.

Before they left the scene and in the aftermath of the alleged assault, he said he had asked the woman who was in the car with them to discard some empty bottles of alcohol in the car before they got to the military base.

The defence has claimed the occupants of the Polo Vivo were allegedly drunk and driving recklessly, which they have denied.

Threats made

It wasn’t until the next day that the witness saw the video of the incident, which was sent to him by a friend’s father.

It was on this day that the footage went viral after being shared by Anton Philipus Jacobus Koen on Facebook.

Read more: Mashatile blue light protection unit case – witness describes being hit on head with butt of gun

Koen testified in court on Tuesday that he had received the video via WhatsApp from a “trusted” source who wanted to remain anonymous. He said he also shared a similar video with the authorities after downloading it on to a USB memory stick.

Three days later, Koen said he received a threatening message on his cellphone via SMS, which reads as follows:

“Good day Mr Koen, we do not take kind (sic) to the footage that you supplied the media. You have made a lot of enemies in specialised units. We will deal with you…”

The footage sparked widespread outrage and debate about blue light brigades and VIP treatment. While some called for protection services to stop bullying people on the road, others called for blue light convoys to be banned.

In the court, the authenticity of the video remains an area of contestation because the video is a vital piece of evidence forming part of the State’s case against the eight.

The eight VIP officers involved in the case are Shadrack Molekatlane Kojana, Johannes Matome Mampuru, Posmo Joseph Mofokeng, Harmans Madumetja Ramokhonami, Phineas Molefo Boshielo, Churchill Mpakamaseni Mkhize, Lesiba Aggrie Ramabu and Moses Fhatuwani.

They are facing multiple charges, including assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, pointing a firearm, malicious damage to property, reckless driving and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

While the accused officers have returned to work in different departments within the SAPS, the lives of the affected individuals, including military trainees who testified in court, have been disrupted.

Read more: Witness tells of ‘devastating and heartbreaking’ damage to her car after alleged highway assault

Video authenticity in the spotlight

The case had been postponed from August 2024 to February 2025 to hear expert testimony on the video’s authenticity. A forensic expert, who Daily Maverick is not naming at this stage, testified for the State on Monday.

While describing the video as authentic, the expert explained that he had been asked by the investigating officer to review the video provided on a USB stick. After his analysis, he confirmed that the video lacked specific timestamps, making it impossible to definitively determine the exact time or date it was recorded.

He noted that the video had been shared via WhatsApp, which complicated the process of analysing the original footage. He alluded to the fact that WhatsApp compression often altered video files, making them difficult to trace back to the source.

The expert also used the video to produce images that were now part of the evidence presented in court. However, he said that he could not verify whether the social media footage or the Sanral CCT camera footage brought into evidence had been edited. He clarified that his examination was based solely on the video he had been given.

In response to the expert’s testimony, defence lawyer Mswazi Makhubele raised concerns about inconsistencies in his conclusions regarding the video’s authenticity.

He questioned the qualifications of the expert, suggesting that his inability to confirm key details like time and date undermined his credibility. Makhubele even argued that the witness was unqualified to offer an expert opinion on the matter.

The expert defended his credentials, asserting that he held a diploma in photography and had undergone specialised training in video authentication. He further explained that in his line of work, it was common for video files to lose metadata such as timestamps when they were transferred or shared through various platforms, complicating the verification process.

The trial continues on Wednesday.

Allegations against police

The trial is one of several recent incidents involving police officers and allegations of abuse.

In a separate matter, a Bloemfontein woman recently filed an assault charge against two officers at Heidedal Police Station after they allegedly beat her while she was reporting verbal abuse by her boyfriend. Video footage from the station has since surfaced, showing the officers repeatedly assaulting the woman.

Additionally, there have been reports of altercations between Mashatile’s VIP unit and residents during the deputy president’s visits before the ANC’s January 8th celebrations.

One such incident in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, involved Mashatile’s security detail allegedly preventing a homeowner from entering his property. The confrontation was reportedly over the protection of Mashatile during his community visit. DM

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South Africa

Rude awakening

Threats made

Video authenticity in the spotlight

Allegations against police