The South African ministry of police will spend R1.93 billion on VIP protection services for members of Cabinet,\u00a0Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko has revealed.<\/p>\n
The minister noted the amounts in\u00a0a written reply to a Parliamentary question posed by the Democratic Alliance.<\/p>\n
According to Nhkleko, a total of R125.1 million is spent on VIP protection for the president<\/a>, alone, including VIP protection for his wives and his immediate family members.<\/p>\n South Africa has 75 Cabinet members, including ministers and deputies –\u00a0which\u00a0equates\u00a0to an average VIP protection spend of R25.7 million per Cabinet minister.<\/p>\n The totals\u00a0include “compensation and relevant indirect costs” related to VIP security.<\/p>\n Nhleko is seeking a VIP protection budget of R2.61 billion for the 2016\/17 financial year, which is 3.2% of the total SAPS budget of R80.9 billion.<\/p>\n According to a report by BDLive<\/a>,\u00a0between 2013 and 2016, R9 million that was budgeted to the South African police department was spent buying luxury cars for president Jacob Zuma’s wives.<\/p>\n He said the purchases were necessary for the VIP protection of the president’s spouses.<\/p>\n The minister said the department spent the money buying three\u00a0Range Rover SUVs, two Land Rover Discovery SUVs and five Audi SUVs and sedans.<\/p>\n Luxury car purchases for government officials have been a continued point of contention in the country – especially when weighed against the finance department’s bid to cut unnecessary spending.<\/p>\n In 2014, it was reported that the government forked over R100 million for 140 luxury cars for members of Cabinet.<\/p>\n Biggest wasteful spenders in SA government<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Leave our \u2018wasteful items\u2019 alone: ANC<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nLuxury VIP<\/h3>\n
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