This type of behaviour is not new. Those are the sentiments of Gareth Newham, head of Justice and Violence Prevention at the Institute for Security Studies, following the viral video of the police's VIP Unit assaulting motorists on a Gauteng highway.
The video clip shows armed men travelling in luxury SUVs armed with rifles kicking and dragging occupants travelling in a VW Polo.
The SAPS said the members would be dealt with and that the victims had been traced.
Newham said this sort of behaviour is not a new problem.
“The SAPS VIP unit is notorious for this bullying, aggressive and sometimes criminal behaviour.
“Too many of them act as if they are law unto themselves,” he said.
Newham said this is a part of much larger problem of police misconduct.
“So, for example, for the past five years up until 2022, R2.3 billion was paid out to victims of unlawful police conduct,” he said.
“This is 52% higher than the previous five years. This a financial burden for the SAPS who could be using this money for better resources,” he said.
Newham said that sadly there was no clear plan in place to address this problem.
“It seems to be getting worse and it doesn’t look as if anything is being done to change the situation.
“Top management should be taking clear and measurable steps to strengthen integrity management and the disciplinary system. The disciplinary system has weakened considerably in recent years, with dire consequences,” he said.
Newham said in 2016 about 4,500 disciplinary hearings were conducted, and in 2022 only 1,362 were held.
“Many officers get away with a slap on the wrist of a verbal or written warning. The least likely outcome in a case of misconduct, is a dismissal,” he said.
Newham said the SAPS needs to strengthen its capability to ensure that police officers who undermine public trust in the police through their unlawful and criminal conduct are quickly and effectively removed.
Newham said the power was in the hand of the President to ensure a rejuvenated top management echelon was put in place to address the ongoing deterioration in policing capability that started in 2012 and had continued unabated since then.
He said surveys show that the vast majority of South Africans had little to no trust in the police and a police reform is what the country desperately needed if the country was to become safer and more prosperous.
Echoing similar sentiments is political and human rights activist Mary de Haas who said the video appears to be a completely illegal operation, with police not even identifying themselves.
“I am told they are from the SAPS VIP unit which is notorious for bad road behaviour.
“They get away with it because VIP unit-linked politicians’ people can be integrated into it without proper training and tend to get bigger ranks than properly trained long serving police members because of their political connections,” she said.
De Haas urged the media to keep asking questions about exactly who they are and what cases have been opened and handed to independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).
“It has happened in the past that VIP people integrated as bodyguards of politicians may even have criminal records, as in a case in KZN,” she added.
Advocate Paul Hoffman SC, a director of Accountability Now, upon being shown the video clip of the blue light bullies in action remarked: “The police are meant to prevent and combat crime, not commit dastardly acts of unnecessarily violent nature.
“The clip shows defenceless civilians being overwhelmed, manhandled, kicked and beaten by the uniformed occupants of the type of vehicle used for the notorious “blue-light convoys” used by those who regard themselves too important and too busy to sit in traffic like everyone else.“
“Bheki Cele should resign in shame, but he won’t. Taxpayers will in due course be obliged to pay compensatory damages to the victims of the vicious bullying in evidence on the video clip and the resources of the state (also paid for by taxpayers) will be wasted on criminal and disciplinary proceedings against those responsible,” he said.
Hoffman said the State (including every last member of the police) is meant to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights guaranteed to all in the Bill of Rights.
“Among these rights are life, inherent human dignity, as well as the rights to bodily and psychological integrity. Threatening and trampling these rights is not the work of the police,” he said.
According to IPID’s annual report, a total of 21 police officers throughout the country were convicted following criminal activity.
For example, in the Western Cape, a police officer was convicted to 18 months correctional supervision following a conviction of death as a result of police action.
Another North West cop convicted on assault GBH charges was sentenced to three years or a R6,000 fine.
The sentence was suspended for five years on condition he is not found guilty of Assault GBH.
The majority of IPID cases on the court rolls were police officers charged with assault. A total of 348 were being dealt with by the court from the last financial report.
The second highest crimes police officers were charged for included murder and rape.
IOL