Paul Mashatile VIP assault highlights police protection an expensive excuse for thuggery and vanity

Late on Monday night video footage circulated rapidly on social media of members of the South African Police Service’s VIP Protection Unit viciously assaulting three motorists on the N1 Highway near Fourways in Johannesburg. Seven automatic rifle-toting men were caught laying into three motorists and then swaggering like cowboys back to their cars before driving off.

Fortunately the scene was recorded by another brave motorist.

WATCH | Motorist viciously assaulted by members of police’s VIP Unit | News24

The SAPS were unusually swift to react. SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe issued a statement just before 9pm, admitting that “a preliminary report indicates that the vehicles seen in the video belong to the SAPS and the men seen in the video are SAPS members” and stating that “an internal departmental investigation” was under way. 

The National Commissioner of the SAPS, General Fannie Masemola, is quoted in the statement as saying:

“Members of the SAPS are meant to uphold and protect the fundamental rights of every person and exercise the powers conferred upon them in a responsible and controlled manner. Such action cannot be condoned regardless of the circumstance.” 

Deputy president Paul Mashatile during a visit to Cedara College of Agriculture on 18 May 2023 in Durban, South Africa. Mashatile has finally admitted that his VIP Protection detail assaulted motorists on Monday. (Photo: Gallo Images / Darren Stewart)

It has since emerged that these policemen are attached to the security detail of Deputy President Paul Mashatile.

Mashatile said in a statement this morning:

"The Deputy President has become aware of an unfortunate incident involving between members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) who are attached to his protection detail and civilians, which occurred in Johannesburg over the weekend.

The Deputy President appeals to the public to allow the SAPS the necessary space to complete its investigation into the incident and take whatever corrective action is deemed necessary. The Deputy President has full confidence in the SAPS under the leadership of Minister Bheki Cele and the command of General Masemola to do the right thing in this regard."

The public deserve an apology from Mashatile.

While we might feel grateful that the assault was not covered up (hard to do so under the circumstances), the SAPS’ response is not sufficient. The seven men are easily identifiable: they should be arrested, charged, named publicly and summarily dismissed TODAY. 

But there’s a bigger problem to be confronted here, which we may thank the thug-officers for bringing back to our attention.

According to a parliamentary question answered by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2022, taxpayers are funding VIP protection to the tune of nearly R2-billion a year and rising. Ramaphosa told Parliament that this service is offered to:

“28 ministers, 34 deputy ministers, Parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Parliament Deputy Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli, National Council of Provinces chairperson Amos Masondo and deputy chairperson Sylvia Lucas; as well as nine premiers, nine provincial legislature speakers and their deputies, and 87 MECs.

One wonders who is out to get Mbeki these days and why, if VIP protection is warranted, a single bodyguard won’t suffice?

“Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, former chief justice Sandile Ngcobo, Constitutional Court justices, judge presidents and the president of the Supreme Court of Appeal also received comprehensive protection.”

This is about the same amount that is spent on land reform.

At a time when fiscal austerity is being imposed by Cabinet on our public health and basic education services, when millions of people are unemployed, and bodies like the NPA fail on key State Capture cases because they are grossly underfunded, this is the embodiment of fruitless and wasteful expenditure the country cannot afford. And which politicians do not deserve. 

South Africa is at war, but the war is not against our VIPs. It’s against us. Criminal intelligence in the SAPS is broken, 25,000 of us are being murdered every year in what one senior NPA official describes as “an organised crime crisis that we are running out of time to fix”.

Several weeks ago I saw a more benign example of VIP protection in action when guests at the Johannesburg Theatre were inconvenienced by being made to queue to go through metal detectors in the foyer on the night former president Thabo Mbeki decided to go and watch the Drakensberg Boys Choir. 

Did he really need that? One wonders who is out to get Mbeki these days and why, if VIP protection is warranted, a single bodyguard won’t suffice?

These questions point to something deeper. An arrogant, self-serving and self-important political elite who have no sense of shame or accountability.

But we should also ask why most current Cabinet members and MECs need their blue lights? If they are in danger of assault or assassination it’s probably self-inflicted: the result of their involvement with the criminal underworld, in corrupt tender deals and intra-party faction fights. As with access to healthcare, basic education and housing they should show humility and suffer the consequences of government failures with the rest of us. 

While we can accept that VIP protection is required by the President, Chief Justice Zondo and other discrete cases where a minister’s portfolio puts them at risk, that does not justify more than 200 people getting it at R8-million a shot. The truth is, it’s just a perk.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Hail to the thief, fail to the chief — rot sets into SA presidential security service

Why is an MEC more deserving of VIP protection than a chief finance officer in a corruption-vulnerable department? Why did Babita Deokaran and Charl Kinnear not get VIP protection? 

These questions point to something deeper. An arrogant, self-serving and self-important political elite who have no sense of shame or accountability.

At best the VIP protection we taxpayers pay for is an expensive vanity project to massage the egos and smooth the passage of people who are meant to be public servants. At worst, as seen last night and with the Public Protector’s finding against CR’s chief henchman, Wally Rhoode, it’s an excuse for acting above the law, and thuggery. 

Whatever, it’s something we can’t afford financially or democratically. The dismissal of last night’s rogues will be a start and a step in the right direction. We wait with bated breath. DM