Eight officers attached to Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s VIP Protection Unit, accused of assault, in the dock at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court. (Photo: Michelle Banda) 
On Thursday, the Randburg Magistrates’ Court dismissed a Section 174 discharge application brought by eight former bodyguards of Deputy President Paul Mashatile – keeping the high-profile assault case on track for trial.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ED_551282.jpg "Deputy President Paul Mashatile. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Lulama Zenzile)")
The accused had hoped to walk away from charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and malicious damage to property. Instead, Magistrate Abdul Khan ruled that there was enough evidence to proceed.
Two of the accused, Lesibana Rambau and Johannes Mampuru, will continue to face charges of negligent driving. Four of the accused will continue to face charges concerning violation of the Firearms Controls Act for allegedly pointing a firearm.
The accused include Churchill Mkhize, Phineas Boshielo, Harmans Ramokhonami, Shadrack Kojoana, Moses Tshidada and Pomso Mofokeng.
‘Common purpose’
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ED_544844.jpg "The eight former VIP Protection Unit officers appear at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court on 3 February 2025. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sharon Seretlo)")
Magistrate Khan cleared all eight accused of defeating the ends of justice charges.
“Having dealt with the legal analyses of the matter, we now move to the evidence before the court, which finds that the accused will now face charges in relation to malicious damage to property, assault and pointing of a firearm, and reckless driving,” Magistrate Khan said.
“The court is satisfied that all the accused had acted in common purpose in the assault,” added Khan.
Not guilty
In May, the eight accused were exonerated in a SAPS disciplinary hearing because the video evidence against them could not be verified. This was an internal police probe, which found that the video footage of the incident was inadmissible as evidence.
The accused had pleaded not guilty and brought a Section 174 application to have the cases against them dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Before bringing the Section 174 application, the accused had made several court appearances and had each been released on R10,000 bail on 1 August 2023. In May 2024, the case was back at the Randburg Magistrates’ Court for a pre-trial hearing.
A video of the incident, which was widely shared on social media, showed the eight VIP Protection Unit members assaulting two off-duty soldiers on the N1 Highway in Johannesburg.
SAPS advised the person who shared the video footage of the assault to open a case after they complained that they were receiving death threats from unknown people.
According to one of the accused, Deputy President Mashatile was present in the convoy when the incident occurred, although his representatives have said he wasn’t at the scene.
“The video evidence submitted as evidence corroborates the State’s version that the accused had acted in common purpose, as it was observed by [witness] during his testimony that the victims were assaulted by six males when he was shown the video. The accused admitted they were present. At this stage here, the court is satisfied that all eight accused acted in common purpose in the assault,” Magistrate Khan said.
Read more: ‘I saw my life flash before my eyes,’ says victim in Mashatile’s VIP Protection Unit assault case
Face masks
Prosecutor Elize le Roux raised concern regarding the accused disguising their faces with masks during the hearing, stating that this made her uncomfortable.
The accused’s legal representative, Mswazi Makhubele, said he saw nothing wrong with the accused appearing with masks on, and said they could remove them for purposes where the State needed to identify them.
Magistrate Khan upheld the sense of discomfort and ordered the accused to remove the masks.
The trial date has been set for 23-27 March 2026. DM