An attempted murder case against Vusumuzi Matthews Makhaza, who is a member of the VIP protection services in the Free State province attached to the MEC for Finance Gadija Brown, has been postponed to November 2.
The warrant officer appeared before the Bloemfontein magistrate’s court on Tuesday.
According to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid)spokesperson Robbie Raburabu, the 49-year-old officer allegedly had a fight with a fellow patron at a tavern in Kagisanong.
The incident reportedly took place in September 2023.
“He [Makhaza] was allegedly hit with a beer bottle on the ear and sustained an injury. A few days later, the suspect police officer went back to the place looking for the person who attacked him, seeking revenge.
“When he failed to locate him, he went to his home at night and found him with his girlfriend. The girlfriend of the alleged perpetrator of the assault answered the door with a nine-month-old baby in her arms, but she quickly closed the door and locked it when she saw the police officer with a firearm,” said Raburabu.
Makhaza allegedly attempted to gain entry into the house by force and discharged his firearm, hitting the door.
“The police were called and arrived at the scene after the police officer left. Ipid received a report on the incident two days after it happened, and after conducting preliminary investigations, the suspect member was arrested last week.”
At the time of his arrest, he was escorting the MEC of Finance to an event. After his arrest he was detained at the Mangaung police station.
This comes after an incident where deputy president Paul Mashatile’s VIP protection team allegedly assaulted a motorist on the N1 highway in Johannesburg. The incident caused uproar after a video of the assault went viral on social media.
The eight accused officers are still on R10 000 bail each as the state finalises its investigation.
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