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Resistance See other Resistance Articles Title: Praise for blue light punching biker Praise for blue light punching biker 26 May 2008, 11:25 By Sherlissa Peters A handful of KwaZulu-Natal motorists fed up with speeding blue light convoys have secretly applauded a motorcyclist who allegedly punched a VIP driver just moments after he crashed his blue light car. Traffic officials are still investigating the circumstances of the accident in which the driver of a KZN provincial VIP vehicle was punched by an angry motorcyclist after the vehicle hit another car, injuring its occupant. The accident occurred on the N3 near Camperdown when the VIP vehicle slammed into a Fiat Siena on Saturday afternoon. The front of the Fiat was a wreck of mangled metal and the driver of the car was trapped and the jaws of life were used to extricate him. He was airlifted to St Anne's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg and is in a serious but stable condition. Witnesses told traffic officials at the scene that moments after the accident a motorcyclist who had allegedly earlier been forced aside by the VIP Mazda 6 "blue-light" vehicle, stopped at the accident scene and punched the driver before climbing back on to his motorbike and speeding off. One witness, Kithen Maharaj, who called the Daily News yesterday, said that he was shocked, but secretly ecstatic that the motorcyclist had the guts to do what every other motorist wished they could do. "These blue-light drivers think they own the roads and have no consideration for the safety of innocent motorists. The life of the driver who was hit by the VIP vehicle could have been lost in that accident. "The VIP driver deserved what he got," said Maharaj. VIP vehicles are usually used to transport the province's MECs, but according to emergency officials at the scene, the VIP driver was driving alone. Other media reports said the driver was rushing to fetch Social Welfare MEC Meshack Radebe at his Durban home when the accident occurred. The department's spokesperson Mandla Ngema is quoted as saying the minister's chauffeur, a police officer, was rushing on an errand for the minister and that it was "normal" for VIP drivers to travel at top speed. In April last year, the province's elite were criticised for what the public saw as a sheer abuse of power and authority, condoning the behaviour of VIP drivers who were accused of forcing motorists off the road. Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula confirmed earlier this year that 28 VIP protection vehicles had been involved in accidents last year, which cost the government more than R600 000 in damages. Police spokesperson Superintendent Henry Budhram confirmed the accident and said the alleged altercation that took place as well as the circumstances surrounding the accident are being investigated. KwaZulu-Natal transport spokesperson Rajen Chinaboo, confirming the accident on the N3 near Camperdown, said Road Traffic Inspectorate officials said there "had been some sort of altercation". Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said that paramedics at the accident scene reported that a witness had stopped at the accident scene and also told police about the altercation at the scene. In April 2007 the Witness newspaper reported that its switchboard was flooded with calls from motorists who said they were pushed off the N3 by a blue-light convoy, identified as being that of ANC president Jacob Zuma. It also reported at the time that a Pietermaritzburg man, Faizel Mooideen, had a rifle pointed at him and his family by security officers who tried to push them off a lane on the highway. At the end of the same month, a motorist used his cellphone to provide the newspaper with video footage of KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele's convoy doing 160km/h on the N3. KwaZulu-Natal's transport MEC Bheki Cele later accused the motorist of being "a self-made, arrogant, non-accountable individual who purports to be a good citizen and I will dare to argue that he is also a racist". He said at the time the motorist who filmed the convoy speeding at 160km/h had broken the law. Repeated demands to have the newspaper hand over the motorist's name were rejected by the newspaper. Camperdown is about 25km from Pietermaritzburg.
Poster Comment: KwaZulu-Natal's transport MEC Bheki Cele later accused the motorist of being "a self-made, arrogant, non-accountable individual who purports to be a good citizen and I will dare to argue that he is also a racist". Welcome to 4um!
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