They face charges of pointing a firearm, malicious damage to property, reckless and negligent driving, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and attempting to defeat the administration of justice.
This message contained in Ipid senior investigator Hlanganiso Ndlovu’s affidavit yesterday forms the basis of the state bid to oppose bail for the accused.
In his affidavit, Ndlovu said the men had complete disregard for the laws of SA during the course of the attack and significantly, in the days that followed the incident.
“What is clear from the video footage is that the accused acted in concert with one another during the whole incident. They all left the scene together in one convoy.”
Ipid said accused number 5 (Boshielo), after the consultation with the rest of his co-accused, failed to report that there was an assault on the complainants.
“In fact, he twisted the facts, stating that one or more of the complainants were drunk and that they tried to flee the scene.
“All these facts will be disputed by the state during the upcoming trial.”
The text to a Mr Koen, who circulated the video, read: “Good day Mr Koen, we do not take kindly (sic) to the footage that you supplied to the media. You made a lot of enemies in specialised units. We will deal with you.”
Ndlovu said upon reading the text to Koen it is clear that “the only reasonable inference that can be made, excluding any other inferences is that this message was sent by someone within the ranks of the VIP protection unit, either by one of the accused themselves, or by someone close to them with their full knowledge and consent.”
He said the intention of the message was clearly to threaten Mr Koen that harm would come to him and by definition his family, because he dared to expose their criminal actions. Ndlovu said despite efforts to establish the ownership of the SIM card and the handset used to send the text, all indicators were that currently a burner phone was used. He said a burner phone was typically used by individuals who wanted to hide their identity.
“No one else other than the eight accused had a motive to send this message to this witness or an interest in the outcome of any investigation into their conduct,” Ndlovu said.
He said the sender of this anonymous message did not want to be identified and was most certainly someone with a vested interest in the outcome of the case.
Ipid further asked the court to consider that the VIP protection unit in general had a dubious reputation among ordinary South Africans as road users.
According to Ndlovu, the occupants of the vehicle – all off duty military personnel – were on their way to their base in Pretoria on the day of the attack.
One of the complainants said while on the road, he became aware of a black vehicle driving to his right side on the highway.
“He saw a male person from the inside of this vehicle pointing him with a rifle. His first thought was that they’re being hijacked. Out of fear for this, he decided that the best that he could do under the circumstances was to keep on driving.
“The next moment he was forced to the side of the road by this vehicle. These actions caused substantial damage to the blue polo,” Ndlovu said.
The complainants further explained how they were “boxed in” by another vehicle and subsequently had their vehicle broken into and them dragged out of it and assaulted.
Ndlovu said all four witnesses indicated that they were still in fear of their safety, should the accused be released on bail. “The owner of the vehicle also fears for her safety.”
Kojoana later told the court that on the day of the incident, they saw the Polo zigzagging near the car that was transporting Mashatile and they boxed onto the side of the road. He said they believed the car could have been a threat to Mashatile and that is why they cornered the car.
Bail application continues tomorrow.
Mashatile’s protectors accused of disregarding SA law
Man lives in fear after receiving a text, threatening him
Image: Veli Nhlapo
“You made a lot of enemies in specialised units. We will deal with you.”
This is the chilling message sent to the man who circulated a video of deputy president Paul Mashatile’s protectors attacking motorists on the highway earlier this month.
The incident, which occurred on the N1 in Johannesburg on July 2, shone a spotlight yet again on the behaviour of VIP protection units who have been accused of bullying and lawlessness on SA roads.
The eight officers handed themselves to the police on Sunday and appeared in the Randburg magistrate’s court for the first time yesterday.
They are: Shadrack Kojoana (accused 1), Johannes Mampuru (accused 2), Pomso Mofokeng (accused 3), Harmans Ramokhonami (accused 4), Phineas Boshielo (accused 5), Churchill Mkhize (accused 6), Lesibana Rambau (accused 7) and Moses Tshidada (accused 8).
They face charges of pointing a firearm, malicious damage to property, reckless and negligent driving, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and attempting to defeat the administration of justice.
This message contained in Ipid senior investigator Hlanganiso Ndlovu’s affidavit yesterday forms the basis of the state bid to oppose bail for the accused.
In his affidavit, Ndlovu said the men had complete disregard for the laws of SA during the course of the attack and significantly, in the days that followed the incident.
“What is clear from the video footage is that the accused acted in concert with one another during the whole incident. They all left the scene together in one convoy.”
Ipid said accused number 5 (Boshielo), after the consultation with the rest of his co-accused, failed to report that there was an assault on the complainants.
“In fact, he twisted the facts, stating that one or more of the complainants were drunk and that they tried to flee the scene.
“All these facts will be disputed by the state during the upcoming trial.”
The text to a Mr Koen, who circulated the video, read: “Good day Mr Koen, we do not take kindly (sic) to the footage that you supplied to the media. You made a lot of enemies in specialised units. We will deal with you.”
Ndlovu said upon reading the text to Koen it is clear that “the only reasonable inference that can be made, excluding any other inferences is that this message was sent by someone within the ranks of the VIP protection unit, either by one of the accused themselves, or by someone close to them with their full knowledge and consent.”
He said the intention of the message was clearly to threaten Mr Koen that harm would come to him and by definition his family, because he dared to expose their criminal actions. Ndlovu said despite efforts to establish the ownership of the SIM card and the handset used to send the text, all indicators were that currently a burner phone was used. He said a burner phone was typically used by individuals who wanted to hide their identity.
“No one else other than the eight accused had a motive to send this message to this witness or an interest in the outcome of any investigation into their conduct,” Ndlovu said.
He said the sender of this anonymous message did not want to be identified and was most certainly someone with a vested interest in the outcome of the case.
Ipid further asked the court to consider that the VIP protection unit in general had a dubious reputation among ordinary South Africans as road users.
According to Ndlovu, the occupants of the vehicle – all off duty military personnel – were on their way to their base in Pretoria on the day of the attack.
One of the complainants said while on the road, he became aware of a black vehicle driving to his right side on the highway.
“He saw a male person from the inside of this vehicle pointing him with a rifle. His first thought was that they’re being hijacked. Out of fear for this, he decided that the best that he could do under the circumstances was to keep on driving.
“The next moment he was forced to the side of the road by this vehicle. These actions caused substantial damage to the blue polo,” Ndlovu said.
The complainants further explained how they were “boxed in” by another vehicle and subsequently had their vehicle broken into and them dragged out of it and assaulted.
Ndlovu said all four witnesses indicated that they were still in fear of their safety, should the accused be released on bail. “The owner of the vehicle also fears for her safety.”
Kojoana later told the court that on the day of the incident, they saw the Polo zigzagging near the car that was transporting Mashatile and they boxed onto the side of the road. He said they believed the car could have been a threat to Mashatile and that is why they cornered the car.
Bail application continues tomorrow.
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