After the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Julius Malema, claimed to have allegedly been harassed by Metro police on the Grayston Drive off-ramp on 3 April, the spokesperson for the Metro police said that they were just doing their jobs.
The incident came to light after Malema and the EFF shared the experience on Twitter with the opposition leader writing, “Just survived police harassment at Grayston off-ramp, 12 police men pointed me with rifles and forced me out of the car…”
The EFF soon followed up with an official statement which accused the South African government of utilising bullying tactics, saying, “The EFF takes this as a clear act of intimidation and demonstration that the enemy is following our Commander-in-Chief Julius Malema around.”
Spokesperson for the Metro Police Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said that the officers involved were following procedure and doing their jobs. He said, “A Metro police officer spotted a Golf and Range Rover travelling past Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital with strobe lights. The officer became suspicious and called for backup. The cars were stopped at the Grayston Drive off-ramp.”
He added that after the officers checked the cars, they realised that everything was in order. Minnaar said, “They then allowed the occupants of the vehicles to proceed with what they were doing.”
Minnaar said the strobe lights attached to the Golf were usually used by security companies but these were registered to a private company and were legal. But he added that there have been cases of criminal activity being perpetrated through the use of strobe lights, with a lot of criminals using them to impersonate law enforcement officers.
