Taxpayers forked out R170m over five years to protect VIPs not part of national executive

CAPE TOWN - Taxpayers have spent nearly R170 million over the past five years guarding VIPs who are not part of the national executive.

This was revealed in reply to a parliamentary question from Rise Mzansi.

The figure is on top of the hefty R1.3 billion already spent on protecting the president and ministers over the same period.

In reply to a question from Rise Mzansi's Makashule Gana, the police minister said VIPs in three categories were eligible for protection - the first being Speakers and deputy Speakers of the national and provincial legislatures and the chairpersons of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

In this category, around 22 members are protected annually and over the past five years, the police had spent R71 million, excluding the salaries of protection officers, travel and vehicles, which are provided by the respective legislatures.

Identified members of the judiciary, including the chief justice and deputy, and the heads and deputy judge presidents of other court divisions, fall into a second category, on which the state spent a further R45 million.

A third category of ad-hoc VIPs, which includes individuals of strategic importance to the country and who are protected for a temporary period based on a positive threat identified by local intelligence, cost another R53 million.

In May, eight police VIP protection officers in the service of the deputy president were let off the hook in an internal disciplinary process after being filmed assaulting motorists on the N1 highway in Johannesburg.