Mabuza guards point firearms at motorist
“Disrespect to public who pay for roads”
Deputy President David Mabuza’s bodyguards allegedly forced an EFF leader off the road with a gun during a road rage incident at the weekend.
EFF organiser Cyril Chuene said Mabuza’s guards pointed a firearm at him and forced him off the road on the R40 between White River and Mbombela in Mpumalanga on Sunday as the deputy president was escorted home.
“I was driving towards Nelspruit wearing my EFF regalia when I noticed Mabuza’s five cars were behind me. I was driving on the right, a car passed me on the left and the second one had one of his bodyguards pointing fingers at me, though I could not hear what he was saying.
“I moved to the left to open for them but they put me in the middle, and the last Vito-like mini-bus forced me out of the road and stopped in front of me. They came out in numbers and pointed big guns at me.”
Chuene said he then got out of his car and asked what he had done wrong.
“They just left me there and drove off. I was comforted by a female motorist who accompanied me to the Nelspruit police station to lay charges.”
The 76-year-old motorist, Martha Maria, who assisted Chuene, said she was forced to stop when the motorcade blocked the road.
“I was driving, following Cyril when many cars from government drove past me and instantly stopped in front of me. As old as I am, I was forced to brake and watch as they walked out to that man [Chuene]. After that they just left, leaving us all shocked like that,” she said.
Mpumalanga police spokesman Brigadier Leonard Hlathi referred questions to national police spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo. Naidoo confirmed that the case was opened and later withdrawn after it emerged that Chuene and Maria failed to adhere to the emergency lights services of the police.
Chuene said: “What happened to me was a clear disrespect to the public who also pay for the roads we have.”