No salaries and no guns for the #BlueLightMafia eight – Action Society moves to mobilise taxpayers to oppose funding police criminals

Action Society announced a plan to mobilise civil society to demand that the #BlueLightMafia eight responsible for the Johannesburg highway assault are unmasked in court, dismissed from the South African Police Service (SAPS) (or at the very least suspended without pay) and that their access to personal weapons must be taken away as they are clearly not fit and proper to carry a firearm. This follows the court’s shocking decision to grant bail of R10 000 each to the eight accused this morning.

“It is time to turn up the temperature,” says Ian Cameron, director of community safety at Action Society. “We call on everyone to use our platform to send a letter to the National Commissioner confirming that their tax money cannot be misappropriated to fund salaries for criminals or their defence.”

“Taxpayers will not foot the bill for SAPS members that publicly committed a violent crime – whether it is for their legal costs or for their salaries. We demand that their suspensions must at least be without pay and ideally that their employment with the SAPS are terminated as soon as possible. We also demand that the National Commissioner of Police, Lt Gen Sehlahle Fannie Masemola, in writing confirm that the SAPS will not consider any applications from the eight accused for assistance with their legal fees for this case.”

According to Cameron the credit for unmasking these and other corrupt police officials – in and out of court goes to civil society. “We applaud civil society and the media for taking up the responsibility to demand transparency and accountability. We will continue to mobilise and call upon every law abiding citizen to be vigilant for any form of police brutality, bribery or corruption. If safe to do so, please take a video and share it on social media with the #BlueLightMafia and #ActionSociety hashtags. It’s time to purge the SAPS of corrupt officials.”

Is there justice in SA?

At Action Society, we often see delays in the justice system. What do you think? Have you experienced this too?

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