The lawyer representing L’vaughn Fisher, the 25-year-old infantryman assaulted by members of the police’s VIP protection unit last weekend, says he is suing the police service for a million rand.
Attorney Daniel Eloff, who is representing Fisher in his impending lawsuit against the police, said that for now he is claiming R1m but the “amount may be amended after all medical reports have been obtained”.
Eloff and Ulrich Roux, representing the other three victims who were in the car, confirmed that none of the police officers have officially been charged, despite damning footage showing their faces and the assault itself.
The identities of the eight officers have been kept under wraps as they have yet to be charged. Meanwhile, their victims have apparently been prevented from speaking out by their employer, the defence force, according to the lawyer of one of the victims.
On Monday, a video went viral showing members of Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s protection team assaulting motorists on the N1 near Fourways, Johannesburg, on Sunday.
In the video, Fisher can be seen unconscious on the side of the road. In his police statement, he identifies three other victims — two of whom are also members of the defence force and the other, the girlfriend of one of the men.
In his statement, which the Sunday Times obtained, Fisher said that last Sunday he was driving his girlfriend’s blue Polo TSI with some of his friends. They were on their way to the Thaba Tshwane military base.
He noticed a “man from a black car pointing a rifle at me and in my mind I thought that he was intending to hijack me and I did not want to stop. I continued to drive,” he said in the statement.
“The other black car came in front of me and I could not continue to drive at the same speed and the other black car came by my right.”
We expect arrests will be imminent and we know that the eight have been suspended with immediate effect
— Lawyer Ulrich Roux
In an interview with TimesLIVE, Fisher said when they were forced to a stop, “one of the men used the butt of his R5 rifle to try to break my window on the driver’s side”.
“When he failed, he moved to the back and succeeded there. After he broke the window, I am unsure if I was still sitting or being dragged out. The man hit me a terrible blow against my head and I was knocked out.”
Eloff confirmed his client opened a criminal case. He said Fisher was being helped as a witness in the criminal matter by civil society group Action Society.
“The Ipid [Independent Police Investigative Directorate] complaint has been lodged. Ipid has conducted interviews with our client. He’s been there and they’ve discussed it with him. We know that a case has been opened at the Sandton police station.
“We know that a J88 [medical] form has been done as well and a copy has been handed to Ipid and our client. We haven’t heard anything yet.”
Eloff confirmed that none of the officers, who are known to Action Society, have been charged.
“You’d actually expect action to be taken sooner. Had it been another person who was assaulted or it was a different set of circumstances, you might see the police progressing a bit more, but now that it’s the police that are the alleged culprits, it’s taking a bit longer than you would hope,” he said.
Eloff slammed as “shocking” the defence force’s refusal to allow the victims to speak to the media, saying that no reason was given.
Action Society leader Ian Cameron confirmed the victims were barred from giving media interviews. “It’s shocking. Their reasoning doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Roux confirmed that statements had been taken from his clients and that Ipid was “gathering evidence” and putting together a docket which will be used to charge the officers.
He said at this stage they were helping the National Prosecuting Authority and police with their investigation, “in their clients’ interests and to ensure a proper investigation”.
“We expect arrests will be imminent and we know that the eight have been suspended with immediate effect,” he said.
He added that the head of the VIP protection unit was investigating the matter internally.
Roux said they were pushing for swift action because the officers acted unlawfully and should be treated “the same as ordinary citizens”.
On Thursday, national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola announced that the eight VIP officers were suspended and temporarily removed from their posts “pending the outcome of our investigation”.
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