'I cry every time I think about it,' says JMPD officer who was 'viciously assaulted' by motorist

The Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officer who was allegedly assaulted by a speeding 24-year-old motorist has flashbacks of the incident and gets frantic when she thinks about it.

The motorist also allegedly attempted to bump into a JMPD patrol vehicle.

Inspector Masuku, who asked to be identified only by her rank and surname, said she was leaving the metro police dog training centre in the south of Johannesburg at the weekend to respond to a call to assist on the M2. She was working the 6pm to 6am shift.

“While I was busy [there], a message came through from our directorate group. They needed assistance because there was a Pikitup truck that was being looted.

“I went out of the yard. As I reached the robots, I stopped because I know a lot of people jump those robots.

“Something told me to check my left mirror and I saw someone coming at high speed and driving recklessly. I swerved to avoid him hitting me,” Masuku said.

“He did not stop at the robots. He continued ... I then activated the blue lights and followed him. I tried to call for backup, but I was struggling with the network.”

She said the motorist stopped and while she was behind his vehicle, reversed straight towards her, but she swerved.

When the vehicle stopped, Masuku said she approached the motorist and asked him to step out of the car.

“I asked him to step out of the car, but I was scared because I saw he was a tough guy. I then went back to the car.

“As I was reaching for my phone to make a call, he came behind me, pulled me out of the car ... and threw me to the ground.”

The man, according to Masuku, started kicking her on the right side of her face.

“He said f**k you. What do you think you are doing black b**ch ... I raised my hand in an attempt to get help from passers-by.”

She said an e-hailing cab stopped. The driver was with a woman passenger and they both tried to intervene.

“Everything happened so fast. A man also came and he tried to assist me.

“[The motorist] told me I was lucky that people had come to assist me.”

She said while the ordeal had left her with visible physical scars, she was also suffering emotional and psychological trauma.

“Physically, I am getting better, but emotionally I am not OK. I have been asking myself since the incident happened, why this guy did this to me. Is it because I am a woman or because I am black?

“In my 17 years' experience, I have never come across something like this.”

Masuku said she was struggling to sleep at night as she was getting flashbacks.

“I cry every time I think about it. I think about what could have happened had those people not come to help me. It’s not an easy thing to grasp. I wake up in the middle of the night struggling to breathe.

“I am ashamed to even look at myself in the mirror. My son came back from school and said ‘mommy you are not better. You still look the same as you did yesterday’.”

Masuku said she had injuries to her face, upper body and eye and could not eat solid food as her throat was sore.

“My husband has never laid a hand on me. I’ve never laid a hand on anyone. I have had incidents where I get verbally assaulted by motorists while doing my job, but it has never come to this.”

JMPD spokesperson Wayne Minnaar condemned the incident.

“The strangling of a female officer by a male driver during Women's Month is totally unacceptable. The court should show no mercy for such behaviour,” he told TimesLIVE on Wednesday.

• Slade Wood was released on R500 bail by the Johannesburg magistrate's court after a brief appearance this week.

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