VIP Unit assault | Deputy President confirms members assigned to him

JOHANNESBURG - Deputy President Paul Mashatile has confirmed that the VIP Protection Unit Members caught in the N1 incident are assigned to him.

The officers were caught on camera attacking civilians on the N1 highway in Johannesburg.

"The Deputy President abhors any unnecessary use of force, particularly against unarmed civilians," a statement read.

READ: VIP Protection Unit members identified following alleged highway assault

National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola promised a thorough investigation.

Meanwhile, police union SAPU is condemning an alleged assault on the N1 by members of the VIP Protection Unit.

But, it's calling for restraint until investigations are completed.

Officers were caught on camera brutally attacking civilians near a stationary vehicle.

READ: Police probe alleged VIP Protection Unit assault

"We really do not know the circumstances around that, but any form of violence as a union we condemn it," said the union's Lesiba Thobakgale.

"We are saying to the SAPS management that they need to speed up the investigations around circumstances around this very same matter, so as to get to the bottom of it, to say what really transpired.

"Our principle as SAPU will always remain to be that one should not judge any circumstance up until one knows really everything around it," he said.

"If indeed there is a case for one to answer to, the law should be allowed to take its course."