Cele spends R1 billion per year on SAPS Millionaire Managers

14 May 2024

The Democratic Alliance (DA) can reveal that the South African Police Service (SAPS) spends an eyewatering R1 billion per year on the salaries of Major Generals and Brigadiers.

The Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, the SAPS revealed this information in a reply to a DA parliamentary question. According to the reply the SAPS has 146 Major Generals and 632 Brigadiers which equates to an average salary of R1.48 million and R1.23 million, respectively. To put these salaries into perspective, the average salary for detectives, who are tasked with investigating and solving the most violent of crimes, is R481 000 per year.

Like almost every other government department, the number of millionaire managers far exceed their operational needs - no example is clearer than the SAPS. The DA has conducted many oversight tours of police stations around the country, and the same problems persist – too few detectives, lack of rape kits, outdated radios, broken vehicles – all a result of the ANC’s lopsided budget priorities.

The DA has long held the position that the bloated SAPS senior management needs to be cut down to size. South Africa needs less Generals and Brigadiers at Head Office and more boots on the ground. This will enable SAPS to spend more of its budget on core service delivery divisions such as detective services.

The DA has a plan to rescue South Africans from violent crime by decentralising policing from Pretoria down to capable local and provincial governments. We will reduce the overpaid and bloated senior management to free up budget to recruit and train more detectives and we will use technology and evidence based policing strategies to fight crime.

Issued by Andrew Whitfield, DA Shadow Minister of Police, 14 May 2024