‘I saw my life flash before my eyes,’ says victim in Mashatile’s VIP Protection Unit assault case

‘I saw my life flash in front of my eyes when I woke up as I saw the black BMW car beside the one I was with, men who had their rifle guns pointed at us. It was clear to me that we were the target.”

These are the words of the sixth witness who testified in the ongoing case against Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s eight VIP protection officers, who allegedly assaulted a group of military trainees on the N1 highway in Johannesburg.

According to the witness, who may not be named, it happened on Sunday, 2 July 2023, a day after celebrating his birthday when he and his colleagues had spent the weekend in Potchefstroom.

Rude awakening

The witness said he was among the occupants of the blue Polo Vivo that was confronted by the VIP Protection Unit’s vehicles and a victim of the alleged assault that followed. He said that as the military trainees drove from Potchefstroom, he had been sleeping in the car and had a rude awakening.

“What woke me was the motion of the vehicle, which seemed unusual, and the forceful braking. Before I asked, I spotted a black vehicle, a BMW beside the car I was in, with guns out and shouting at us to stop.

“Myself and the lady in the car called on the driver to stop the car who told us he would do so when it’s safe to do so. Before I knew it, two of [the vehicles] forced us off the road, one in front and the other on the side.

“The driver brought the car to a standstill and the first man opened the driver’s door asking him to get out of the car. My door was also opened next. While I tried to unbuckle myself from a seat belt I was slapped and dragged out of the car.

“It was when the assault took place [of] both the driver, a friend, and I. The driver in particular was assaulted until he ran out of consciousness,” the witness told the court.

Read more: We were protecting SA’s second most important citizen, says Mashatile protection officer in highway assault case

The witness said he did not understand most of what was going on, noting that the occupants of the Polo Vivo were neither armed nor presented any danger to the security detail, highlighting that he was a much smaller person than any of the accused.

He positively identified accused number five and eight from the scene of the incident. The court heard that these men were the two he had also identified at the ID parade. In court, he also identified accused number five and six when the video of the incident was replayed.

After the assault, the witness said he noticed damage to the car, including a broken window. He said the keys had been thrown out of the car so they had to carry the driver, who was unconscious, into the vehicle and search for the keys before heading to the military base in Tshwane.

Before they left the scene and in the aftermath of the alleged assault, he said he had asked the woman who was in the car with them to discard some empty bottles of alcohol in the car before they got to the military base.

The defence has claimed the occupants of the Polo Vivo were allegedly drunk and driving recklessly, which they have denied. 

Threats made

It wasn’t until the next day that the witness saw the video of the incident, which was sent to him by a friend’s father.

It was on this day that the footage went viral after being shared by Anton Philipus Jacobus Koen on Facebook.

Read more: Mashatile blue light protection unit case – witness describes being hit on head with butt of gun

Koen testified in court on Tuesday that he had received the video via WhatsApp from a “trusted” source who wanted to remain anonymous. He said he also shared a similar video with the authorities after downloading it on to a USB memory stick.

Three days later, Koen said he received a