Police Minister Bheki Cele confirmed on Wednesday that Deputy President Paul Mashatile was in the convoy of VIP protection service vehicles when off-duty members of the SANDF were allegedly assaulted by eight officers in July.
Briefing the portfolio committee on police on Wednesday, Cele said Mashatile’s convoy usually had seven cars.
Six were from SAPS and one from the SANDF medical health services.
He said on the said day two of the cars pulled over and five continued to drive.
“The deputy president was in the convoy and was not at the crime scene.
“Two of his cars pulled off to deal with that matter.
“Talking to him, he realised at home that there were two cars that pulled off,” Cele said.
“He did not know until he was told later or saw later that the incident had happened.
So that is my briefing about the presence of the deputy president on that particular day in that convoy,” he said.
IFP MP Zandile Majozi said if the VIP cars stopped and left Mashatile unattended, they exposed him to vulnerability and placed him in danger.
“Is it not another charge, that they left the deputy president unattended and vulnerable to beat up citizens?” Majozi asked.
EFF MP Vusumuzi Khoza said: “We want to be taken into confidence whether he was there or not?”
DA MP Brandon Golding said if Mashatile was not in the convoy, there was no urgency, no need for blue lights and high speed.
“What were they doing?,” he asked about the VIP protection services officers.
National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola said vehicles for political principals moved in a convoy whether he was there or not.
Masemola said they responded swiftly when the video went viral by instituting an internal investigation and suspending the implicated officers.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) chief investigator Osborne Khanyi said the investigation involved a number of aspects.
“If we acted based on the video that was circulating without thorough investigation and took suspects to appear in the court, the court would have struck the matter off the roll and it would have been travesty of justice to the victims.
“It became important and imperative for us to first gather information, which is a process, because if you want to have a water-tight case, you need to do your investigation systematically and make sure all areas are covered,” he said.
Ipid executive director Jennifer Ntlatseng said they have done their level best in terms of the investigation.
“We think we are at a stage we are finalising,” she said in reference to the postponement of the case for further investigation.
“As far as we are concerned we covered all the spots and we think we presented a quality investigation. It is up to the court if there is more information still needed,” she said.
Cape Times