The Randburg Magistrate’s Court has dismissed a bid by eight members of the Presidential Protection Services, which is a unit within the South African Police Service (SAPS), to have charges struck from the roll. The officers will stand trial from 23 to 27 March 2026 for their alleged assault of motorists in what became known as the #BlueLightMafia case.

The incident in question took place in July 2023 when a viral video captured members of Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s protection unit pulling motorists from a blue Volkswagen Polo on the N1 near Fourways, Johannesburg, and beating them unconscious on the roadside. The footage, filmed by another driver, showed uniformed officers kicking and stomping the occupants and pointing rifles at them before driving off without rendering assistance. The victims, who were off-duty army personnel, later opened assault and malicious-damage cases with the SAPS, prompting the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to arrest the eight officers and seize their service weapons pending disciplinary and criminal proceedings.

Democratic Alliance deputy police spokesperson Ian Cameron said: “The Democratic Alliance will continue to support the victims in their fight for justice. For far too long, ANC [African National Congress] politicians and their enforcers in blue lights have acted as though they are untouchable. Today’s ruling is a turning point that shows the rule of law still applies, even to those who think they are above it.”

The officers face multiple charges, including assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, malicious damage to property, reckless driving, pointing a firearm, and defeating the ends of justice. Their legal team argued that evidence was insufficient for conviction, claiming witnesses were unreliable or intoxicated. The court rejected this, admitting video footage as credible evidence and accepting testimony from the complainants about the pointing of firearms and damage to their vehicle.

Cameron welcomed the decision to have the accused stand trial as: “a victory for justice, a victory for South Africans, and a warning to every politician who believes they can abuse state power without consequence.” He said the judgment reaffirmed a vital principle, that unlawful orders are not a defence and officers remain personally accountable for crimes committed in concert or by omission.

The ruling also exposes the gulf between the SAPS’s internal processes, which previously cleared the accused using the same footage now accepted in court, and the judicial system. Cameron said the contrast: “reflects how far parts of the institution have drifted from professionalism and integrity.”