Zuma involved in another blue light brigade crash
25 May 2016
Reports that the President's convoy was involved in an accident on the M4 in eThekwini yesterday are cause for concern and raise questions about the impunity with which VIP protection units conduct themselves on our roads.
As such the DA will request that the acting National Police Commissioner, Kgomotso Phahlane, conducts a swift investigation into this crash so we may deal with any wrongdoing appropriately. We also wish for a speedy recovery of all those who were injured in this accident.
According to reports, one of the President's protectors has been hospitalised due to injuries. Meanwhile, the President proceeded to King Shaka International Airport.
He was in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday to open the new Toyota auto plant.
The cause of the accident is unclear at this stage, and it is not known whether any other people were involved or injured.
This is the second blue light crash in KwaZulu-Natal this year. In March, former Premier Senzo Mchunu’s blue light vehicle was involved in a horror crash in which two people died. The third incident this year thus far involved Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s convoy in Blouberg in the Western Cape.
VIP blue light brigades are notorious on South African roads and have been involved in a number of incidents, often due to reckless and arrogant conduct.
In the Western Cape, the DA has taken steps to ban the use of blue lights by all government officials, including National Ministers visiting the Western Cape, except in cases of genuine emergencies. National government must now stop hiding behind the excuse of urgent meetings and missed flights, and start respecting the safety of other road users.
The fact is that the abuse of blue lights is already against the law. The National Road Traffic Act says that blue lights may only be used by SAPS VIP units in the exercise of their duty, which is to protect the life of the Minister or MEC. This does not include getting them to a meeting on time.
Blue light brigades have become synonymous with the arrogance and extravagance of ANC Ministers and politicians, often acting as a law unto themselves. Protecting political VIPs must never be done at the expense of the safety of other road users. It is time for the national government to review the use of blue light vehicles, and to follow the example of the DA-led Western Cape provincial government in banning the use of blue light vehicles
The incident must be properly and speedily investigated to determine the cause of the accident, and those responsible should be held accountable.
Issued by Marius Redelinghuys, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Police, 25 May 2016
