Opposition parties demand accountability for blue light assault

In a video taken at the scene, the police’s VIP officers are seen dragging one of the motorists out of the car on the N1 in Johannesburg.

Two of the men were also kicked by the heavily-armed officers as they lay on the ground.

DA leader Johns Steenhuisen says the assault video represents precisely what the ANC thinks of South Africans.

"We -all the people of South Africa - are the ones down on the ground. And the ANC are the thugs masquerading as a government, stomping on our neck. From Andries Tatane to Marikana, this is not the first time we have seen murderous abuse of power by the ANC’s security forces directed at ordinary citizens."

Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald says the party will request Parliament’s police committee to look into the matter.

"Such criminal and bullying behaviour raises serious questions about the members' training and level of professionalism. If they had been professionally trained, they would have known how to control their temper, regardless of the situation.

"It is unacceptable for members of a specialist unit to act in such a deplorable manner by dragging people from their vehicles and assaulting them. In addition, it creates a security risk for the person they are supposed to be protecting."

RISE Mzansi chief organiser Magashule Gana says they will be closely monitoring the response of the SAPS, as well as the police watchdog IPID probe, to ensure accountability.

"Had it not been for a brave commuter with a cell phone in hand to record the violence meted out on members of the public, this would have been another incident of lawlessness by SAPS VIP officers to go unchecked.

"If this ends with anything less than a criminal prosecution, it will once again confirm that there are rules for the political establishment and rules for the rest of us.”

ActionSA President Herman Mashaba says they have written to the IPID head Dikeledi Ntlatseni to investigate the SAPS VIP unit’s actions.

"ActionSA will not allow the deputy president to get away with being a mafia-style leader who rules with brute force. ActionSA asserts that Mashatile’s long history of dubious conduct cultivated an environment fertile for his VIP protectors to act like jackbooted thugs.

"We maintain that South Africa is neither a gangster state nor a police state, and any police official is therefore forbidden from assaulting any member of the public - even if they are found guilty of committing a crime."

At the same time, the Congress of the People's Dennis Bloem has called on the South African Human Rights Commission to assist the victims by launching a civil claim against Police Minister Bheki Cele.

"Bheki Cele and the government must pay full responsibility for this barbaric actions of VIP protectors, we cannot allow this to happen in our country. This reminds some of us of the brutality of the apartheid police.”

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