BOSA demands R2 billion VIP Protection budget for politicians be redirected to fighting crime
16 July 2024
There is no single part of South African society that is not negatively affected by crime. From white collar corporate crime and corruption – through violence and GBV – to housebreaking, hijacking and petty theft. We are a nation under siege.
While 61 million South Africans live in fear, SAPS has the audacity to allocate over R2 billion this year alone for the VIP protection of politicians of the GNU.
This is the same amount of funds allocated to the Hawks to combat violent crime, organized and commercial crime, and corruption. And it is more than what is allocated to the Family Violence and Child Protection Unit.
To add, the amount allocated to VIP politician protection will continue to grow as the National Executive continues to bloat under this GNU. We now have 75 members of the Executive – the largest it has ever been.
BOSA wishes to unequivocally denounce this celebrity-like treatment of politicians in a country where 83 people are murdered every day.
It is a moral necessity for the Minister of Police to review this allocation and redirect these funds to fighting crime that affects ordinary South Africans.
BOSA offers the Minister of Police our full support in using VIP politician protection funds for the following:
We will support you in expanding SAPS capacity at the station level by recruiting and training 120,000 new officers.
We will support you in ensuring adequate funding and resources for effective response and prevention actions – including doubling the budget of the NPA to R10 billion.
We will support you in establishing smaller regional and municipal police forces with a focus on community trust and collaboration.
We will support you in forging partnerships with private laboratories for forensic support and creating a national electronic forensic database.
We will support you in mandating the digitalization of all dockets for transparency and accessibility.
And we will support you in establishing a National Criminal Investigation Directorate to pursue and prosecute the top 100 most violent criminals.
The roots of crime lie in a tangled web of poverty, inequality and historical injustices. This complex interplay feeds violence and insecurity at all levels. We must stamp it out before it steals more from our country and its people.
Issued by Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, Deputy Leader, BOSA, 16 July 2024
