UPDATE: It has since been brought to the attention of The Citizen that the GTI belongs to the provincial Traffic Police. – hat tip Wynand.
A newly uncovered video posted on social media has drawn criticism for the actions of what is believed to be an unmarked blue light police car harassing another driving for not getting out of the way.
Please note: Video contains strong language.
Captured on a rear and forwards facing in-car camera, the white Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI, suspected to be either a ghost unit or unmarked highway patrol vehicle, is seen blasting down the M39 in Midrand with its lights flashing at more than 120 km/h.
As indicated by the time and date of the footage, the incident took place just over a month ago and at onset of traffic becoming noticeably heavy heading towards the Allandale off-ramp.
The forwards facing camera then cuts to the GTI getting very close to the back of a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which subsequently moves to the left-hand lane as traffic gets heavier.
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Matters then become ugly as the Golf is unable to speed past a Lexus IS, whose entry into the left lane is blocked first by an Isuzu KB bakkie, a Nissan NP200, and then a Renault Clio.
Still unable to move over despite the GTI almost pushing it along, the Lexus driver, once past a Hyundai Santa Fe, is able to move out of the way as the traffic eases before the Allandale turn-off.
His apparent refusal to move over proves too much for the driver of the GTI, who proceeds to pull alongside and push the Lexus into the middle lane in what can be seen as a reckless form of intimidation.
The clip ends with the Lexus driver standing his ground to an extent before the GTI eventually speeds off.
While the comments to the incident seem to cast blame on the driver of the GTI, some have also questioned the actions of the Lexus driver for having had to chance to move over as a gap had been left once the Mercedes had moved over.
Given the association and reputation of blue light vehicles though, despite there being no convoy present in this instance, the actions of the Golf has elicited the biggest criticism, with some comments going as far as to question whether it was indeed a real police vehicle based on the numberplate not having any police identification.
Despite some responses “tagging” the twitter pages of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), no comments from either were noted.
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