The news reports on the radio as I drive along the M1 are all about the big story of the day: VIP protection officers have been caught on camera assaulting a motorist. One after another, brandishing their firearms, they stomp on a man lying prostrate on the ground. Then they board their vehicle and depart. No attempt to perform an arrest – had one even been warranted – and in full view of a stream of road users. A cross between contempt and brutality, it looks more like the actions of a skinhead gang or a mob boss’s enforcers than agents of a constitutional democracy.
The new coalition government leading Nelson Mandela Bay will have to hit the ground running this week as they attempt to tackle everything from major service delivery backlogs to corruption and establish themselves as being worthy to be at the helm of the metro.