SAPS under fire for allegedly shielding Mashatile’s VIP protection unit

THE South African Police Service (SAPS) has been accused by the DA of protecting Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s VIP protection unit following their acquittal in an internal disciplinary process earlier this year.

- MANYANE MANYANE

The party said its Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application in the disciplinary case involving the VIP protection unit exposes a breakdown in accountability in the police service and a cover-up.

The eight officers were filmed assaulting passengers and the driver of a car on the N1 highway in Johannesburg in 2023.

The officers were acquitted by the SAPS in May through an internal disciplinary process.

The party said the information showed that instead of a swift and transparent disciplinary process, this case descended into a two-year “circus” of postponements, procedural chaos, and excuses, including scheduling conflicts, family obligations, as well as the SAPS’s alleged inability to organise basic transport and accommodation.

The information also revealed that the case was abandoned because key witnesses had disappeared.

The DA said this was not just an administrative failure, but a deliberate failure of justice.

“SAPS, a national law enforcement agency with investigative powers, could not even ensure the attendance of its own witnesses, including the original complainant and the person who recorded the now infamous video. Worse still, investigators ignored evidence, failed to pursue obvious leads, and disregarded footage that clearly identified the perpetrators,” the party said.