Ramaphosa and his deputy should be ashamed their police force can openly assault citizens

On the now infamous video of deputy President Paul Mashatile’s VIP Protection Unit assaulting the occupants of a VW Polo, several voices that can be heard, as though giving commentary to the brutalising of the people lying helplessly on the ground, guns pointing at them and kicks raining down on them.

One of the voices of those recording the brutal assault says in a reverential but fear-filled voice: “These ones are cops, they can kill you…”

The said cops climbed out of their SUVs brandishing all manner of weapons. On a national highway, in broad daylight. This should never happen in a democratic country that has a constitution that values the rights and dignity of every citizen.

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No law-abiding citizen should be scared of police to an extent that they think they can be killed by police in broad daylight while not threatening the police’s or anyone’s life.

There are so many layers to what happened on the N1 last week that in any self-respecting democratic country, not only would the perpetrators be in jail right now, but lawmakers would be gathered, examining the laws that give these police units the right to drive the way they do.

It is quite ironic that those who used to run away from the brutality of the police system back in the day think it is acceptable to rely upon the same brutality for their protection. It is not only in this country that the police force is used to prop up the shaky seats of a government that has lost favour with the electorate.

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It is easy for supporters of the blue light brigade, as the VIP protection units have come to be known, to defend themselves by passing off that incident as an isolated event.

There are good, honest, hard-working police force members who will feel hard done by because they’re painted with same brush, but they are ignoring the fact that those few rotten apples exist because the system allows them to exist.

Whatever negative things said of the Western Cape government and its purported desire to be separate from the rest of the country, it realised the dangers of the blue light brigades quite early and outlawed them. And there is no reported increase in attacks on government VIPs in that province.

If they can be outlawed in that one province and the work of government is not compromised, then it can be easily done in the rest of the country.

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The one layer that this traumatic incident reveals is that government derives its authority from demonstrations of open brutality that in turn induce fear in its citizens.

When the convoy of black SUVs goes speeding past ordinary citizens who are driving to their destinations without a fuss, the blaring sirens and flashing blue lights no longer represent a plea to make way for important people to pass so their safety can be ensured; the brigade now represents an arrogant show of power.

It is that arrogant belief in their own power that made Mashatile’s VIP unit think it is okay to assault a citizen and there will be no consequences.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mashatile, Fikile Mbalula, Julius Malema, Herman Mashaba and anyone in a position of power should have condemned last week’s event and seen it for what it is: a relic of a police force and government drunk on power and choosing to draw its respect and authority through beating citizens into submission.

The president and his deputy should be ashamed that in 2023, their police force can assault citizens openly, while brandishing weapons.