ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula says there is no need for Deputy President Paul Mashatile to account to the party about the VIP Protection Officers’ assault case. Mbalula said no action will be taken against Mashatile, despite denying being part of the convoy when his VIP Protection Officers allegedly assaulted the VW Polo driver and passengers on the N1 in Fourways, Johannesburg. One of the eight officers who have since been arrested and charged with the assault, revealed to the court during his bail hearing that Mashatile was part of the convoy when the incident happened.

LET THE LAW TAKE ITS COURSE

After denying that he was part of the convoy, it emerged at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday that he was indeed part of it. Mbalula, in a media briefing on Monday held at Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg, defended Mashatile and said the ANC will allow the law to take its course. "There is no need for him to answer to it. Let the process of the law that is being put in place in terms of checks and balances take its course. We are happy that work is being undertaken. We said the police must be suspended, we are happy that was done within a very short space of time. The police management has acted. I saw there the other day they appeared in court, that is the process of the investigation," he said.

MASHATILE DIDN’T LIE

Mbalula admitted Mashatile was part of the convoy but defended Mashatile about lying about it. "Yes, the Deputy President was there, unless, if your question was saying did he command? No, he doesn’t command," the secretary-general said. "The Deputy President didn’t say a lie about whether he was in the convoy. How can he lie about the convoy which was his? He admitted and subjected the whole thing to the legal process."

NO KNOWLEDGE OF WHATSAPP GROUP

On the reports that there is a WhatsApp group planning to defend Mashatile, called "Hands off Mashatile", Mbalula said he has no knowledge of the group. "Look, there are WhatsApp groups that are opened for different reasons. If people feel that the Deputy President is being attacked unfairly, through a smear campaign, people will react and they will say ’Hands off Mashatile!’.

Early this month, Mashatile told one of the Sunday newspapers that there were people trying to remove him from power. He said he was in the process of investigating the motives of those behind the move. He also added that the same people tried to stop his campaign to become the Deputy President of the ANC in the build-up to the party’s elective conference in December 2022.