Civil rights organisation Action Society has condemned newly appointed police minister Senzo Mchunu’s announcement that he will allocate R2 billion for VIP protection services, saying that ministers prioritise their own safety over South African citizens.
Mchunu recently tabled the R113.6 billion police budget in parliament. The protection and security services programme was allocated R4.09 billion (almost as much as the R4.74 billion for crime intelligence), with VIP protection services taking a 53.1% portion of it – nearly 2% of the entire police budget.
“South Africans fear for their lives everyday with more than 80 people being killed daily and 135 reported rapes. This money should be spent on keeping South Africans safe, not providing ministers luxury special services at the cost of the taxpayer,” said Action Society’s Juanita du Preez.
“Not only is this a shameless waste of taxpayers money, but we have seen how protection services have been abused in the past. Under Bheki Cele’s leadership we saw the protection unit beat and harass civilians in broad daylight with little to no consequence. A year after the BlueLightMafia eight assaulted civilians on a highway in Gauteng, the disciplinary process isn’t even finished and all eight are still in the police service. Is this unit going to be funded to intimidate South Africans and allow the police to silence her citizens?”
Action Society demanded that the budget allocation to VIP services be revised as soon as possible and that combating violence against women and children is prioritised.
Unpacking the police budget earlier this month, National Coloured Congress (NCC) leader Fadiel Adams said, “The National Coloured Congress cannot support this budget. It cannot support a budget that allocates more to the protection of 72 VIPs than to crime intelligence. It is unthinkable.”
In April, it emerged that the South African Police Service spent over R42 million on petrol and diesel over the past six years purely for its VIP Protection fleet.
“While South Africans are suffering from crushing cost of living, including higher fuel prices, ANC VIP cadres take the taxpayers for a ride without having to put their hands in their pockets,” the Democratic Alliance’s Andrew Whitfield said at the time.
“Just recently, the ANC increased the SAPS VIP Protection allocation in the mid-term budget by over R52 million. In fact, the budget allocation for these services has increased by over 25% over the last five years,” Whitfield added.
