Attack on JMPD officer is 'an attack on our government' - Mashaba
26 July 2018
City of Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba has decried the release of a taxi driver who allegedly assaulted a Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officer.
He has called on criminal justice authorities to treat the case with the seriousness it deserves.
The taxi driver was arrested last week after three JMPD officers stopped him. It is alleged that he became impatient and attacked one of the female officers.
He was charged with assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm and was detained at the Hillbrow police station.
He was later released on R1 000 bail.
Mashaba said he had been told that police released the taxi driver on bail the day after his arrest because the investigating officer could not locate the injured JMPD officer.
"This is simply unacceptable," Mashaba said.
"Both the charges initially laid against the assailant and the bail provided tell law-abiding residents that criminals are allowed to act with impunity on our streets and that the law is a toothless tiger, powerless to protect them."
When asked for a response, Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said he could not comment on the matter because it was in court.
Mashaba said the female officer had to hold onto the windscreen wipers of the taxi to avoid being dragged underneath the taxi.
He claimed that the driver ignored instructions to get out of the taxi and said he became aggressive and eventually headbutted and punched the female officer.
"The female officer who was attacked by the aggressive taxi driver sustained injuries to her left arm, leg, face, back and suffered a concussion to the head," he said.
Mashaba said, with the intervention of the JMPD Chief of Police David Tembe and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) the charge has been changed to attempted murder.
"As I have said before, the attack on our JMPD officers is not only an attack on our government, but an attack on our efforts to return the rule of law to our City," he said.
"It is an attack on the people of our City, who are desperate to feel safe in their homes, communities and streets."
