The Randburg magistrate’s court has postponed the case involving eight former members of Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s VIP presidential protection unit to February 3.
This was due to the fact that the schedules of the presiding magistrate, Abdul Khan, and state prosecutor, Elizabeth le Roux, were fully booked for the next few months.
Following a protracted five-month delay that began in 2023, the case was reopened in May.
Recently, three individuals who were travelling on the N1 highway through the city in July 2023 took the stand before the court to give testimony on the incident.
Two are the alleged victims of the former officers’ assaults.
The eight accused are charged with a number of offences, including assault, pointing a handgun, reckless and negligent driving, and malicious damage to property.
The owner of the car the victims were driving when they were attacked is among those who testified in court.
Witness lived in fear
She testified in court that since the day of the alleged assault, her life had taken a severe turn for the worse.
“Even though we knew the incident to be a hijacking, a journalist called me and informed me that a video of my car was trending,” said the witness.
“We ended up locking ourselves in the house because we were scared. I had to change my car registration number. That is how terrified I was.”
Advocate Mswazi Makhubele, the defence attorney, contends that his clients forced entry into the car because the driver was intoxicated and refused to open it when told to.
“It is my instructions that you were intoxicated on the day and beer bottles were found inside the vehicle,” probed Makhubele recently.
“Further, it is my instruction that the door that you [were] seated next to was locked. And you were asked to open it, but you refused.”
The suspects are out on R10 000 bail each and have all entered not guilty pleas.
Also Read: Love’s in the air for celebrity couples
