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The South African Police Service has announced the suspension of all eight officers who were seen on a viral video brutally assaulting the occupants of a VW Polo on a Gauteng freeway.
National spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said they were suspended on Monday in terms of the SAPS disciplinary regulations.
“The SAPS wishes not to discuss the matter further,” she said.
The police watchdog is also investigating the incident which involved the security detail assigned to the Deputy President Paul Mashatile.
The video was filmed by a motorist on the N1 in Fourways,Johannesburg.
It showed members of Mashatile's security detail dragging the motorist and his passenger out of their vehicles before violently kicking them all over their bodies while holding their rifles.
The Deputy President said he was not with the officers at the time.
The organisation, Action Society, has been assisting the victims, who are members of the South African National Defence Force, in bringing criminal charges.
In an earlier statement on their website, the Director of Community Safety, Ian Cameron, said IPID filed one charge of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after interviewing the driver of the car, L’vaughn Fisher.
Cameron said he was hit over the head with an assault rifle and then repeatedly kicked in the head while already unconscious from the first rifle blow.
Also Read: SAPS members in viral video attached to Deputy President
