Blue lights criticised

Complaints about VIP unit’s behaviour mount in Gauteng, says association.

- Faizel Patel

The presence of blue-light brigades appears to be increasing, with the high-speed motorcades now an almost daily occurrence on Gauteng highways. The Automobile Association (AA) said blue-light brigades posed a threat to road users, particularly as drivers in the vehicles transporting politicians behave aggressively towards other motorists.

"The vicious assault on three drivers on the N1 highway in Fourways, Johannesburg in 2023 is a good example of how protection officers in the motorcades respond to others," the AA said.

"The message from these official personnel is that their passengers are more important than other road users and that the public must simply yield or face personal attack."

The AA said it had raised concerns for many years about the blue-light brigades, but little seems to have been done to curb their "outrageous behaviour".