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Mbalula: Mashatile Present During Assault VIP Cops Return to Court
Mbalula made his remarks amidst the accused’s second court appearance scheduled for Wednesday. He spoke to the media during the ANC’s local government workshop in Boksburg as reported by East Coast Radio.
Mbalula’s statements sharply differ from Mashatile’s office’s claim that the deputy president was not present during the incident.
The Randburg Magistrate’s Court saw the initial appearance of eight officers from the police’s VIP unit on Monday, facing 12 charges.
Also Read: VIP Member Reveals Deputy President Was Present in One of the Vehicles
During the court hearing on Monday, it was revealed that the individual who recorded the incident received a threatening text message from an unknown number.
On Tuesday, Mbalula was questioned about whether the ANC would request Mashatile to step aside following the party’s resolutions concerning members involved in legal issues.
Mbalula clarified, “The deputy president was in the convoy, I cannot speak on his security detail. When you are in a convoy, you will not see what happens around you because you are being defended. The deputy president has never said he was not in the convoy. He was in the convoy. So where does the step aside come in there? There is no step aside there. What we said as the ANC is that this matter must be investigated by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (and is being investigated).”
Meanwhile, Lerato Ngobeni from Action SA insists on thoroughly examining Mashatile’s version of events.
“Court proceedings confirmed under oath that the VIP unit assaulted the South Africans after they apparently tried to hit the vehicle Mashatile was driving in. This is a direct contradiction with a statement made by the deputy president after the incident took place where he said that he was not present when the incident occurred.”
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Photo: Twitter / @African National Congress
