The eight Presidential Protection Services (PPS) police officers, who were caught on video assaulting people on the N1 highway in Gauteng, have been arrested.
The men were told to hand themselves in to the Sandton police at 15:00 on Sunday.
The men are accused of assault, malicious damage to property, and pointing a firearm. They will appear in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (IPID) spokesperson, Robbie Raburabu, said the case was ’70 to 80 percent’ complete and he was confident it was a ‘strong case’.
Raburabu was asked whether the men were receiving special treatment as they handed themselves in so late and would spend less than 24 hours behind bars. He was also asked why the arrest had taken so long.
Raburabu denied there was special treatment for the officers; – IPID first had to track down the victims from different provinces to take their statements.
‘The investigation was not easy because we had to locate the victims, and then the officers were suspended before we started looking for them.
‘We cannot arrest them before the case is ready, or we will embarrass ourselves when they go to court.
‘The victims were located with the help of the SANDF. Some were in the hospital. Their wounds are healing.’
‘I cannot confirm if the principal was in the car on the day’, he said, when asked whether Deputy President Paul Mashatile was on the scene. At the time Mashatile’s spokesman says he was not, but one of the accused has said they were accompanying him.
The men are part of Mashatile’s security detail, and the convoy was said to have been escorting him home at the time.