Ordinary citizens in KwaZulu-Natal who are growing increasingly tired of blue-light bullying on roads by politicians and other Ridiculously (self-) Important People (RIPs), appear to be taking matters into their own hands.
Or, in the most recent case, their fists. A VIP driver assigned to Meshack Radebe, the MEC for social development, is alleged to have smashed into a Fiat Palio on the N3 near Camperdown almost two weeks ago.
Witnesses report the VIP vehicle was traveling at about 200kph. Such was the damage to the Palio that the jaws-of-life was needed to extricate 76-year-old Robert Madlala and his daughter Lungile.
Madlala is still recovering in hospital and Lungile told local newspapers that she was unsure whether the family had the means to replace their car.
It is understood that the ministerial driver’s desperately important mission was to pick up the minister from his home and drive him to a departmental function.
Minutes later Radebe’s driver was involved in another collision when an irate motorcyclist, who had been forced off the road, stopped at the scene of the accident to mete out a swift blow to the driver’s face. The motorcyclist then got back onto his bike and disappeared.
Police spokesperson Henry Budhram said a case of reckless and negligent driving had been opened. The VIP driver’s identity would only be revealed once the investigation was completed.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian this week Radebe dismissed calls from the Democratic Alliance in the provincial legislature apologise publicly to the family as ‘politicking and electioneeringâ€.
‘We need to come to our senses about this and be grateful that no one died in the accident, not try to score cheap political points,†he said.
‘I haven’t been able to visit the family because I have been busy dealing with people affected by the xenophobia and other government functions. But I hope to do so over the weekend,†said Radebe.