The eight VIP protection officers caught on camera assaulting three citizens earlier this month have spent the night in a cell at the Sandton police station in Gauteng.

The suspects handed themselves over to police as the police watchdog Ipid was given the go ahead to process them.

The suspects face charges of assault, malicious damage to property and the discharge of a firearm.

The gun wielding members now dubbed the blue light mafia were identified after video emerged of them brutally attacking a Gauteng motorist and two others on the N1 highway.

In an effort to do damage control the officers were suspended.

The officers were part of the security detail of the Deputy President Paul Mashatile.

The suspects are expected to appear in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court.