AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit has accused police of helping run weekly street races in Pretoria after the fatal street race crash in Gezina in May, where a young man died.
In May, video footage of a maroon Honda Ballade colliding with a white Renault at high speed on Steve Biko Road in Gezina went viral on social media.
Viral crash killed passenger Phillip Bezuidenhout
Phillip Bezuidenhout, who was a passenger in the Honda, tragically died on 3 May after the car collided with an uninvolved motorist’s vehicle before crashing into a pole. The Honda driver, Willie Momberg, and the driver of the Renault survived.
Captain Johan van Dyk, spokesperson for the Tshwane district police, confirmed that they have opened an investigation into the culpable homicide case against the Renault driver.
AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit is representing Phillip’s mother, Frieda Bezuidenhout.
The unit said on Friday that illegal street racers have used that section of the road for decades and have caused numerous fatal crashes, yet the activities continue.
“The information and evidence the Private Prosecution Unit has now provided to the SAPS could explain how the active involvement of some law enforcement officers may have contributed to this thriving and deadly subculture of fast cars and high-powered engines,” the unit said.
According to AfriForum, new footage of the crash has emerged. The footage allegedly shows a person, whose identity AfriForum says it knows, assaulting the injured Renault driver in front of police officers who arrived at the scene within seconds of the crash.
New video shows assault in front of officers – AfriForum
“It is alleged that some South African Police Service (Saps) officers may have been part of a network of people involved in illegal racing and the organisation of these events,” it said.
MEDIA STATEMENT: Alleged law enforcement coverup and complicity revealed in deadly street racing events
The recent deadly crash during an illegal street race along Steve Biko Road in Gezina, Pretoria, has not only exposed an alleged police cover-up to protect those involved, but… pic.twitter.com/GkkbFoBG6x
– Barry Bateman (@barrybateman) June 12, 2026
“Several of the regular participants who appear to be publicly associated with some of the Saps officers openly brag about their conduct on social media and even invite others to join by providing the dates, times, and locations of the races.”
Advocate Gerrie Nel, the head of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, claims in a letter to the police that racers don’t appear to fear a police crackdown on their illegal racing.
“The failure of law enforcement to prevent the practice of holding road races on a public street while other vehicles still have access to that street is not only reprehensible but may also support an argument that law enforcement was complicit in the reckless lawlessness that has yet again claimed a life,” Nel wrote.
“Members of the public must be able to use public roads at any time of day without fear that racing vehicles will endanger their safety.”
The unit’s spokesperson, Barry Bateman, said that spectators gather every Sunday to watch these illegal races, which suggests law enforcement participates in or turns a blind eye to them.
Lawlessness on public roads
“The information and evidence we have gathered reveal a well-documented – and even arrogant – display of lawlessness on public roads by a group of people linked through a street-racing subculture that is thriving in the north of Pretoria,” he said.
Bateman added that the social media accounts of several participants provide evidence of the races on Steve Biko Road and general reckless and dangerous driving on public streets.
“Considering the speed and efficiency with which the Saps recently secured social media evidence in a well-publicised case against a politician, the public must expect the same urgency in securing evidence where the conduct in question could kill or maim innocent motorists and pedestrians,” he said.
“Failure to do so will surely confirm suspicions of police involvement or a cover-up.”
