Despite a stern warning from police top brass, the blue-light brigade continues to terrorise motorists on Gauteng highways.
The latest incident saw a cavalcade of Mercedes Benzes and BMWs try to push a Pretoria woman driver off the road. She was also allegedly threatened with a firearm.
Police management have reacted with outrage at the latest incident, barely a week after VIP Unit national commander Mzondeki Tshabalala issued a directive with strict guidelines for the use of blue emergency lights, warning of retribution for those who failed to adhere to the rules.
On Tuesday afternoon shortly after 3pm attorney Kim Lovegrove was travelling along the N1 towards Pretoria after seing a client in Sandton when she saw the blue lights approaching fast in her rearview mirror.
Lovegrove told the Pretoria News she could not move over as there was no gap in the adjacent lane and traffic was really busy. Instead she was forced to pick up speed, now travelling above the 120km/h limit.
She finally managed to force her way into the next lane, eliciting a furious response from another motorist.
The lead VIP car, a black Mercedes Benz, pulled up beside her and made as if to ram her vehicle, she said. Alongside Lovegrove, the passenger and driver of the VIP protection vehicle both hurled profanities at her - "telling me to get the f*** out the way" - before the passenger pulled back his jacket to reveal a holstered gun. "I was shaken. They were brash and very rude," said Lovegrove.
She said the second car in the convoy was also a black Mercedes with tinted windows and it was followed by two big black BMWs, all with lights on and travelling at 140 to 160km/h.
The VIP Protection Unit, which protects the President, cabinet members, MECs and a host of other dignitaries has repeatedly been cited for abuse of power with motorists at times forced off the road even when the principal was not in the vehicle.
In an incident along the N12 last year Chase van der Walt was allegedly shot by an officer when he drove too close to the presidential motorcade.
On February 1 this year a vehicle escorting ANC president Jacob Zuma allegedly hit and killed a pedestrian in Ulundi.
In November last year a driver for KwaZulu Natal MEC Meshack Radebe was arrested and charged after he allegedly shot out a tyre of a motorist on the N3 highway. The driver is currently facing eight counts of attempted murder and one of malicious damage to property.
Last month Safety and Security Minister Nathi Mthethwa admitted there were 111 charges faced by members of the VIP Protection Unit, including murder, attempted murder, rape, armed robbery and the abuse of power over the past four years. Over the past five years two members of the unit were dismissed and five suspended.
Over the past two weeks Tshabalala has held meetings with the top management of the VIP Protection Unit, bodyguards and drivers, making it clear that the abuse of the blue light will not be tolerated.
The DA plans to lay a charge with the Independent Complaints Directorate. They have also called on the immediate dismissal of Tshabalala, describing his recent directive to VIP protectors as "nothing more than window dressing".
"Tuesday's incident reveals a simple, tragic truth; that instead of protecting people, officers in the VIP Unit are actively putting lives at risk'," said DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard.
Senior Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo said the police would not hesitate to institute criminal or disciplinary action against members of the VIP Unit who abused their position.
"Our members are not encouraged neither do we condone or tolerate such behaviour by our members across the board in the police," said Naidoo.
"I don't want to know who it was or what the vehicle registration is. I am not even interested in who was being transported. It's not important," the superintendent added.
The bottom line was that a meeting had been held by Tshabalala to address the matter and had now seemingly been ignored, he said.
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