Johannesburg mayor kisses his eight bodyguards goodbye
The executive of the City of Johannesburg has been dealt its blow 2025, with the South Gauteng High Court ruling that the city’s VIP protection policy is unconstitutional and invalid.
On 2 January 2025, High Court Judge Stuart Wilson ruled that Johannesburg’s VIP protection policy which provided excessive security to municipal officials without proper threat assessments, violated South African law.
Back on March 20th, 2024, the City Council of Johannesburg adopted a resolution that endorsed a VIP protection policy.
The policy allocated eight bodyguards to the Executive Mayor (was initially 10) and the Speaker of council, while members of the Mayoral Committee and committee chairs received between two and five officers.
It also earmarked six luxury vehicles at the disposal of the mayor and five for the speaker as well as vehicles assigned to 12 MECs and some committee chairs.
The court noted that the policy entrenched the provision of far more generous personal protection services to senior municipal councillors than the Act and the ministerial determinations permit.
The national law is that the Mayor, Speaker and chief whip get two bodyguards each, but more can be provided if an SAPS threat assessment says that it is necessary.
However, the governing coalition moved ahead with it, and a majority of the City Council voted to provide more bodyguards without the threat assessment with came at a substantial cost.
This saw the City spend over R3 million a month on VIP protection with 60 bodyguards and 40 vehicles – emulating the blue-light culture that costs South Africa more than policing services for serious crimes.
DA Johannesburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku said that the party raised their concerns inside council and cautioned that the policy violates the constitutional upper limits. She urged the city to withdraw the policy.
“Despite this the ANC-EFF-PA coalition ridiculed us and used its numerical advantage to pass this through council,” said Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
The DA said that the City was served in May 2024 after pleas allegedly fell on deaf ears, and were ” left with no option other than to take it on review.”
The High Court found that the resolution was inconsistent with the Remuneration Act and the ministerial determinations; and declared the policy and related allowances null and void.
The court has ordered the City to revise its VIP protection policy to comply with the Remuneration Act and the ministerial determinations.
This includes obtaining threat assessments from SAPS before assigning any bodyguards beyond the default limits.
The court said that to ensure the safety of officials during this transition, it has suspended its order for six weeks, allowing the City time to obtain the necessary threat assessments.
This suspension can be extended if evidence suggests removing the extra protection would pose an immediate danger.
“We aren’t holding our breath for those, as they have failed to provide them for over a year,” said Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
The City of Johannesburg was ordered to pay the applicant’s legal costs on an attorney and client scale.
“Unfortunately, the City has had to learn yet another costly lesson in the rule of law. Residents of Johannesburg will have to pay for the lack of good governance and due diligence by the city,” said Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
Questions were sent to the City of Johannesburg, but we did not receive a response by time of publication.
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