R8 million to protect a VIP: Time to slash the SAPS VIP budget to fund local policing
12 October 2021
Note to Editors: Please find an attached soundbite by Andrew Whitfield MP
The DA can reveal that the total cost of protecting one VIP for the 2021/2022 financial year is R8 million. This according to a calculation done based on a reply to a DA parliamentary question.
In response to the DA’s question regarding the number of VIPs under protection of the South African Police Service (SAPS) the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, said the number was 209 while the current VIP protection budget is sitting at R1.7 billion.
The DA has in the past called on the SAPS VIP protection budget to be slashed in half and for the money to be redirected to front line policing. Instead the SAPS budget has been slashed by R3.8 billion in this financial year with the majority of the cuts affecting the frontline visible policing programme. At the same time the SAPS VIP budget was increased by R26 million.