Ian Cameron Mashatile’s blue light “Thugs”, the Hennops river cops - and Police Portfolio Committee priorities

Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, has been the target of a virulent attack by The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) for labelling as “thugs” Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s VIP Protection officers who were involved in a “brutal” assault on “innocent” civilians next to the N1 in Johannesburg in 2023 - but were acquitted following an internal disciplinary hearing - despite video evidence. “In a parliamentary context, as part of my constitutional duty to do oversight, I'm not going to allow any union to make me look or seem or feel like just being a rubber stamp that needs to simply approve anything they say or do. There's something very wrong with the process that was followed here and it's critical for us to dissect it.” As for the mysterious deaths of four police officers whose bodies were found in the Hennops River recently, Cameron says: “I do find it suspicious, and it's not to cast doubt on any part of an investigation or anything like that, but it is an extraordinary kind of event….So it would be very interesting to understand more of the depth and context as to what exactly those members were involved with.” Cameron also gives an update on the biggest issues his committee is currently grappling with, including the proposed regulatory amendments of PSiRA that “in essence mean that in a very arbitrary way, a security company can lose its function overnight”.