Africa-Press – South-Africa. The DA has called out Police Minister Bheki Cele’s silence following revelations of a violent assault of two men by members of Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s VIP protection service.
Disgruntled by Cele’s lack of action, DA police spokesperson Andrew Whitfield called on Cele to speak about the incident and hold those implicated accountable.
On Thursday, Whitfield said: “Minister Bheki Cele, you are conspicuous by your absence. This is a minister that never misses the opportunity to get in front of the cameras. He speaks at every funeral of police officers who are slain in the country, but when South African citizens are violently attacked by his brutal blue light brigade of bullies, the minister is nowhere to be seen.”
Although national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola has since disclosed eight officers were suspended and temporarily removed, Whitfield called on Cele to brief the public on the next steps.
“We call on Minister Cele publicly to be transparent and to make sure that these police officers are held accountable by telling the truth.
A video of the incident showed one man motionless on the asphalt while his assailants kicked him. The other could be seen sitting and using his arms to protect his face from the kicks.
The officers then got back into their black BMWs and took off, leaving the men on the ground. One slowly got up; the other remained motionless, the video showed.
The officers were part of Mashatile’s security detail, and the convoy was said to have been escorting Mashatile home.
Despite his spokesperson, Vukani Mda, stating the deputy president was absent on the day of the incident, Whitfield said the DA had submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act to his office to determine if this was true.
Following the incident, News24 reported one of the victims had suffered head and jaw injuries.
It was revealed the victims – who have tasked Action Society, a civil rights organisation, to initiate civil charges against Cele – initially believed the incident was a hijacking before the security detail forced their car off the road.
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