South Africa P.I.G.: VIP PROTECTION UNIT

Showing posts with label VIP PROTECTION UNIT. Show all posts

Another victim of reckless 'blue-light brigade'

Probe after thousands of rands' damage is caused to brand-new car <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qbyPtDWwD3xe9-PQN_HXm35rcjMki8CfKjkaYnfzF-qojkdWM0vAmWFC8bfPJR0uaSfHpTiVHwhNh3dOGUl1q1cZge58felitmMupwZPdetz8KmR3Y3OvIwmFio8px_OUzn0M6nC7SM/s1600/motorcade-pres.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCOHZ2ooCraoF4q-o_KhWUdl_qE4Iw1sy7AVSleNM4GCayEOZOMHeVe-BoSthDl0bkyU6BJMWW3DPHmQSTX_M3qiqkThucIyHsMW4G-PjbjEAaZtgxsPolj27lHkhKrpLjXojnFNY09M/s1600/saps-blue-lights.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406306866066789458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCOHZ2ooCraoF4q-o_KhWUdl_qE4Iw1sy7AVSleNM4GCayEOZOMHeVe-BoSthDl0bkyU6BJMWW3DPHmQSTX_M3qiqkThucIyHsMW4G-PjbjEAaZtgxsPolj27lHkhKrpLjXojnFNY09M/s400/saps-blue-lights.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 268px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a>A cancelled birthday lunch spent at a police station and a shattered rear-view mirror on his beautiful new Subaru - Johann Scholtz was having a bad day. He had just fallen victim to a "blue-light brigade" screaming through Sandton, would have to cough up the insurance excess, lose his claim-free history and - through his taxes - would ultimately land up paying for the damage. But the VIP officers who sliced off Scholtz's mirror had, without knowing it, picked the wrong car to damage: one filled with three lawyers from one of the country's most prominent legal firms. Scholtz and his colleagues chased down the offenders and took meticulous notes of vehicle makes, registration numbers and even what building the VIP member walked into when the brigade reached their destination. The Star understands that the VIP being transported was former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. National police spokesman Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo confirmed that the cars were from the Presidential Protection Unit and that a case of reckless driving would be investigated. However, Naidoo declined to confirm which VIP was being transported or on what business. He said the docket would be taken to the prosecutor, if it was found that somebody was at fault. In a letter to The Star, Scholtz recalled every detail of the accident that took place on November 13. The attorney, celebrating his 47th birthday on the day, was parked at the corner of Rivonia and Protea Roads near Illovo, northern Joburg, waiting for the traffic light to turn green. It was about 12.30pm and Scholtz was on his way to his birthday lunch. Suddenly, a black BMW X5 - with its siren wailing and blue lights flashing - "charged down the right-hand line at break-neck speed, squeezed through a gap and hit my rear-view mirror, with bits flying through the air". It then allegedly ignored a red light, cut across two lanes and performed an illegal left-hand turn with a BMW 7-series following in its slipstream. Scholtz had bought his metallic-silver Subaru Forester a month ago and was devastated to see the damage. He followed the two BMWs to where the VIP apparently entered a business building. He confronted the driver of the car that had hit him, but found him unfazed by what had happened. "The nonchalant manner in which he did so (suggesting they go to report the case at a police station) suggested to me that he was no stranger to the procedure," Scholtz said. The accident was reported to the police, but the driver refused to tell Scholtz who the VIP was or what emergency had justified such reckless driving. What he did allegedly concede was that the VIP was late for a meeting and had put pressure on him to drive as fast as possible. "He simply drove off, leaving me feeling angry, frustrated and violated in my citizenship," Scholtz said. Scholtz, an Illovo resident, is busy getting quotes to replace the mirror, but fears it will cost thousands of rands as the entire door will have to be opened up. "Why was that person entitled to charge through the traffic at high speeds if they were late for a meeting ... I would like to know what kind of emergency justifies this?" <a href="http://www.star.co.za/" target="_blank">The Star</a> 20/11/09

Another victim of reckless 'blue-light brigade'

Probe after thousands of rands' damage is caused to brand-new car A cancelled birthday lunch spent at a police station and a shattered r...

11:10 AM

Mom fighting to uncover son's fatal collision with VIP unit

Kyle Harris was killed when his car was hit by a police car in a convoy escorting a SA Reserve Bank (SARB) vehicle through an intersection along Hendrik Potgieter drive on Thursday 12 June 2008. Eyewitnesses said the convoy had run a red traffic light. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOXMNA6ItbnxYD3bf9HU9BKwfl732P0opGGsghpr4smnCxJKyrMVAmCk1omG1bgL9YWAO5UuOHQjTE37CjmZqzOINlzuoHfC-irylA8cvRWBCI2jyGCTDX5BxLNzihqoXuXWSDNEGDvPw/s1600-h/crime-dead-body.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404327893216170418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOXMNA6ItbnxYD3bf9HU9BKwfl732P0opGGsghpr4smnCxJKyrMVAmCk1omG1bgL9YWAO5UuOHQjTE37CjmZqzOINlzuoHfC-irylA8cvRWBCI2jyGCTDX5BxLNzihqoXuXWSDNEGDvPw/s400/crime-dead-body.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 235px" /></a>See <a class="l" href="http://www.mnet.co.za/Mnet/Shows/carteblanche/DisplayPrint.asp?ID=3543" onmousedown="return clk(this.href,'','','res','4','&sig2=lTpZZWA4gi9b366Zm__y8w','0CBQQFjAD')">Carte Blanche</a> story SA Blue Light cowboy convoys Somebody has to pay' for son's fatal collision with VIP unit Michelle Harris remembers clearly arriving at the accident scene - one car on its roof and the other smashed, unrecognisable, glass strewn across the usually busy intersection. But the scene that plays out in her head every day is the one where she sees a man lying in the road. His motionless body is covered with foil, his takkies poking out from underneath a blanket. On closer inspection she sees it's her worst nightmare come true. It is her handsome and bright young son Kyle (20). He is dead. All Harris and her family want is closure from that fateful morning last June, but they have received everything but. The court case involving Constable Johannes Ramalope from the police's VIP Unit - on trial for culpable homicide in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court - has dragged on for nearly 18 months. But Michelle isn't giving up. The 42-year-old Florida mother has quit two jobs, determined to investigate the case herself. "I couldn't trust the police to do their jobs. I needed to know what happened that day and I wasn't getting any answers from the police. "It was difficult from that first day because they were investigating one of their own." On the morning of June 12, Kyle drove his sister Maxcene to college. He would usually be back home by 9am. When he didn't arrive at 9.10am, Michelle started to worry. "He was going to be late for work, but that's not why I started to get anxious. I knew something was wrong." When her brother-in-law arrived to fetch Kyle for work, the pair went looking for the young man. They drove and eventually stopped while approaching the Hendrik Potgieter and Jim Fouché intersection in Roodepoort. "There was a traffic jam, we were stuck. But then I heard the sirens and I started to get butterflies in my stomach. "I told my brother-in-law that I was going to where the sirens were. So I got out and started running. As I came closer, I saw ambulances and, immediately after, I saw Kyle's car." After she had identified her son's body, police told her that a car in a VIP convoy had collided head-on with her son's. They said the convoy had been transporting Chinese diplomats to Pretoria. The occupants of the other car, which lay on its roof, had been taken to hospital. "Our lives changed that day. And nothing has changed since. I have made it my life's mission to see that the person responsible for my son's death is brought to book. Somebody has to pay, I don't care who." The court case was a comedy of errors, she says. It was postponed several times because investigators had failed to complete their investigations timeously. And at one point the docket "mysteriously" went missing. But Michelle refuses to accept officials' "incompetence". So she resigned from her job as a private banker at Nedbank, then as a sales manager at another company, so that she could focus on the investigation into her son's death. Michelle says she visited the scene a week after the accident, spoke to the driver of the tow truck, and gave details of witnesses to the police. This was after she went on radio and pleaded for witnesses to come forward, which they did. Harris also twice visited Assistant Commissioner Oswald Reddy, area commander of the greater Roodepoort area, to beg for help. The case was in court this week. Ramalope's colleague, Inspector Bernard Clifton, testified that the driver had been doing more than 100km/h at the time of the collision. Clifton testified that he was driving with Ramalope in a Ford Territory as part of a police convoy that, among others, had been escorting a Reserve Bank truck from Bloemfontein to Pretoria. Earlier, Captain Hendrik Willem Stölm, the commander of the convoy, testified that the vehicles in the convoy were driving along Hendrik Potgieter Avenue to get to the N14 highway before slow traffic on the N1 highway could pose a security risk. Clifton, meanwhile, claimed that Harris had moved from behind two rows of stationary vehicles in Jim Fouché Drive, across the intersection, and passed a marked VIP police car, which was parked in the middle of the road to block off traffic, before hitting the Ford Territory that was moving down Hendrik Potgieter, on the right front side. But State prosecutor Mardie Human disagreed. She said that due to the traffic islands regulating the flow of traffic, it would have been technically impossible for Harris to move past so many vehicles. Later Clifton admitted he was not familiar with the area. The magistrate, prosecutor and defence team were supposed to do an in-loco inspection, but a hailstorm in the Roodepoort area hampered plans to point out markers at the scene of the accident. The inspection will now take place on November 30. Michelle, who described her son as a humble, happy and intelligent young man, is determined to have her son's reputation reinstated. "They are making him out to be some kind of psycho on the road. It hurts us so much. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't push ahead, forcing people to do their jobs. "Kyle was loved and the world loved Kyle. He would always go to the ends of the earth for those who needed his help." Since Kyle's death, Michelle, her husband Clive and daughter Maxcene's lives have changed dramatically. They were an active group - always outdoors and enjoying music, movies and karaoke nights. But, mostly, the family fun has ended. "My family need to move on with their lives, we desperately want to. But we're still stuck with the court case hanging over our heads," says Michelle.

Mom fighting to uncover son's fatal collision with VIP unit

Kyle Harris was killed when his car was hit by a police car in a convoy escorting a SA Reserve Bank (SARB) vehicle through an intersection a...

5:09 AM

VIP cop in yet another incident. Again! or still! or whatever!

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zl-pmhG619MWKX23yjrGwS_rA3I0Hmxi0z0ZM8UAFK2wOVyaHVYw-BmnDo9gEn2SnTb2NI6cNOL0RtpQVxrVIuddKjdch_9Lyk5re7NO0y2X9Ii1R6S_9CT9H0JKThBnjggTA-eicNvI/s1600-h/blue-lights-vip.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321613512068532450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zl-pmhG619MWKX23yjrGwS_rA3I0Hmxi0z0ZM8UAFK2wOVyaHVYw-BmnDo9gEn2SnTb2NI6cNOL0RtpQVxrVIuddKjdch_9Lyk5re7NO0y2X9Ii1R6S_9CT9H0JKThBnjggTA-eicNvI/s400/blue-lights-vip.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a> A bluelight driver in the Port Elizabeth mayor's motorcade caused a three-car pile-up over the weekend in the latest high-profile incident involving the by-now much-maligned VIP Protection Unit.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrnj32gCxLXfhMVDlyrbNMdwyrCgqLv0aDSXW9OL40CcbXyX5zdK7ddpjbHFQEaHG1JXj1A-eJLzAfq7a2pfyzU8EOfN_gPKKVPu_Y73iDX1qSIpsqTXilC8EkcPUQs8zVd_sF446cO5BU/s1600-h/maphazi.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321751038204060594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrnj32gCxLXfhMVDlyrbNMdwyrCgqLv0aDSXW9OL40CcbXyX5zdK7ddpjbHFQEaHG1JXj1A-eJLzAfq7a2pfyzU8EOfN_gPKKVPu_Y73iDX1qSIpsqTXilC8EkcPUQs8zVd_sF446cO5BU/s320/maphazi.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 194px" /></a>Mayor Nondumiso Maphazi (pic right) was reportedly rushing to the opening of the Ironman triathlon at the PE beach front on Sunday, when the lead car in her motorcade allegedly skipped a red light at high speed colliding with a Ford Bantam and sending it spinning into an ADT security vehicle. The mayor, in a silver Audi, continued to her engagement.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgazB7H0UanBcLzGKcs2YCQTXAb-lQUKH-sHm_ru50kNb-uRojWwk2ik-1RGanN_ls43140PsBayFJNhI1HaHY7rH3R1sQoDtpgvp_jqpcRO22Uq_z9jBknt5G4aqj0Lfh37T9HFx6Jm6tp/s1600-h/Mayor_Zanele_Hlatshwayo.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322002037072063922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgazB7H0UanBcLzGKcs2YCQTXAb-lQUKH-sHm_ru50kNb-uRojWwk2ik-1RGanN_ls43140PsBayFJNhI1HaHY7rH3R1sQoDtpgvp_jqpcRO22Uq_z9jBknt5G4aqj0Lfh37T9HFx6Jm6tp/s200/Mayor_Zanele_Hlatshwayo.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 172px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a>Last week Durban woman Kathleen Drummond had to be placed on anti-retroviral medication when another VIP bodyguard allegedly spat in her face and insulted her during an altercation on the N3 highway. Drummond apparently angered Msunduzi mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo’s (pic left) cavalcade by not moving to the slow lane quickly enough. She had been overtaking five trucks when the convoy sped up behind her.In January, it emerged 111 members of the police’s elite VIP Protection Unit have been charged with a host of serious crimes in the past four years. Over the last five years, however, only two have been dismissed and five suspended.Their alleged offences include murder and attempted murder, armed robbery, assault or assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, rape, reckless or negligent driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and malicious damage to property.National police representative, Senior Superintendent Vish Nai-doo, gave assurances that oafish road behaviour wouldn’t be tolerated – even summoning blue lights from across the country to Pretoria for a lecture on how to behave on the road.

VIP cop in yet another incident. Again! or still! or whatever!

A bluelight driver in the Port Elizabeth mayor's motorcade caused a three-car pile-up over the weekend in the latest high-profile inci...

3:15 PM

Blue-light terror on the highway

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEhyphenhyphenGUhVykzC36gkjtfm439vqYP_EsRBij1lXMU8hNehwxcRbKG6uuxQC-APccnGDKqHHBs2HQfUCvTH09uBYzbYdiaVDqVqEQBoYYLx6eiiS7-DlxeBFZv6dJ80aGyu5TVoFUgyYSa8/s1600-h/blue-lights-protection-unit.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307215828115633410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEhyphenhyphenGUhVykzC36gkjtfm439vqYP_EsRBij1lXMU8hNehwxcRbKG6uuxQC-APccnGDKqHHBs2HQfUCvTH09uBYzbYdiaVDqVqEQBoYYLx6eiiS7-DlxeBFZv6dJ80aGyu5TVoFUgyYSa8/s400/blue-lights-protection-unit.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" /></a>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. Related Articles<a href="http://iafrica.com/news/sa/1313095.htm">Deal with VIP driver: FF+</a> <a class="feedlink" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20090202002539402C683325">Blue-light car blamed as pedestrian killed</a> <a class="feedlink" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20081121171125319C183460">Zille slams 'blue-light bullies'</a> <a class="feedlink" href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=nw20081119181308128C879349">Scolding for blue-light drivers?</a>

Blue-light terror on the highway

Despite a stern warning from police top brass, the blue-light brigade continues to terrorise motorists on Gauteng highways. The latest incid...

12:58 PM

South Africa P.I.G.

Another victim of reckless 'blue-light brigade'

Mom fighting to uncover son's fatal collision with VIP unit

VIP cop in yet another incident. Again! or still! or whatever!

Blue-light terror on the highway

Popular Posts

Blog Archive