A South African police officer, accused of firing at a vehicle and injuring eight people of Indian origin, has been denied bail.
The police officer, Hlanganani Nxumalo, 28, attached to the VIP Protection Unit appeared in a local magistrates' court on eight counts of attempted murder after an incident at the weekend while he was speeding on a national road between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.
Eighteen-year-old twins, Niveshan and Nireshan Moonsamy, who are Karnatic and Bharatanatyam dancers were injured along with their sister, Yshrene, 25. Her fiancé Anuvasen Moodley, 25 was also hurt.
Their friends Keagan Naidoo, 18 and Kriban Pillay, 17 were also injured in the incident.
Nxumalo was deployed to protect the provincial Minister of Social Welfare in KwaZulu-Natal, Mechack Hadebe.
Nxumalo shot at their vehicle because the car in which they were passengers had taken too long to get off the fast lane.
The incident has evoked an uproar with the provincial police minister, Bheki Cele, strongly condemning the incident and calling for the law to take its course.
Opposition political parties and the Automobile Association also called for strong action and for the provincial Social and Welfare Minister, Mechack Hadebe, to resign.
But Hadebe said that he was not in the VIP car when the incident took place. He said he would visit the eight people who were injured in the incident.