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R/£ Did cops cut seized video?
SABC says parts of motorcade film may have been deletedJanuary 08, 2009 Edition 4
Beauregard Tromp, Gill Gifford and Sapa
SABC film footage of an incident involving the presidential motorcade, seized by the VIP Protection Unit, has been returned to the public broadcaster - with parts of it apparently having been deleted.
On Saturday, the presidential motorcade was involved in an altercation with the driver of a red VW Golf while travelling on the N12 highway.
Part or all of the incident was captured on tape by an SABC crew, who were later involved in a scuffle with VIP protectors. Their footage was seized.
The driver of the car apparently tried to flee the scene but was arrested.
The motorist sustained a "minor hand injury" and was taken to hospital under police guard, the police said.
President Kgalema Motlanthe, who was returning to Pretoria from a funeral, was unharmed.
Shortly after the incident, police spokesperson Director Sally de Beer said the Golf had driven too close to the president's vehicle, causing the lead car from the motorcade to intercept the Golf. A shot was fired.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago confirmed that the footage had been returned.
But SABC head of news and current affairs Snuki Zikalala said certain parts of it seemed to have been deleted.
This was determined after they carefully studied the returned footage.
He said the SABC had informed the police, who had promised to investigate.
Kganyago said he was not prepared to go into details about what seemed to be missing.
"The people from news believe that some part has been deleted. We have referred the matter to the VIP Protection (Unit) and they will investigate and come back to us," he told The Star this morning.
"It is not fair for us to discuss this further at this stage," Kganyago added.
Yesterday, the SA Police Service admitted to "factual inaccuracies" in its early reporting of the incident.
This backtracking comes after the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) said it planned a high-level probe into the behaviour of the VIP Protection Unit, tasked with protecting the president and other senior officials.
When contacted yesterday, De Beer would not specify the inaccuracies in her initial report, save to say that they would form part of the investigation into the incident currently under way.
"Between what was reported at the scene, through the chain of command and on the spur of the moment, there were some things that were incorrect", she said.
De Beer explained that she had drawn attention to the inaccuracies in the initial report because she did not want her "personal credibility tarnished".
"The matter is being investigated, both with a view to instituting criminal charges against the driver of the Golf and to verify whether the police officials involved acted within their mandate as custodians of the safety of the president and within the ambit of the law.
"Parallel investigations are being conducted within the SAPS and by the ICD, to which we are giving our wholehearted co-operation," she added.
This morning she confirmed that Zikalala had contacted the police about the footage.
"Dr Zikalala spoke to us, we said we will look into it and that is what will happen now," De Beer said.
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