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ActionSA rejects the Minister of Police's refusal to answer critical questions about the true cost of VIP protection for South Africa’s bloated billion-rand Cabinet, which we believe underscores the urgent need for a complete overhaul of the Ministerial Handbook that gifts excessive perks at the expense of overburdened taxpayers.

In response to ActionSA’s Parliamentary Question, which sought to determine the number of VIP protectors and luxury vehicles assigned to each of the 32 Ministers and 43 Deputy Ministers, as well as their costs and the specifics of the blue light fittings attached, the Minister refused to provide these details, citing vague security concerns.

South Africans would be shocked to see how Parliament’s parking lot resembles a luxury car dealership, complete with the latest German SUVs, making it look more like a showroom than a place of public service. It is therefore that ActionSA believes that South African taxpayers deserve full transparency on the protected lifestyles enjoyed by a privileged few, funded by their hard-earned money. 

Crime is something that affects every citizen and if those responsible for dealing with it are cocooned from its real impact on citizens, they will remain blissfully unaware. It is an affront that, while police stations meant to protect communities are so severely under-resourced that they lack sufficient police vehicles, Ministers enjoy fleets of luxury cars at taxpayers' expense.

ActionSA continues to call for a complete overhaul of the Ministerial Handbook, which can best be described as the "How Much Can Politicians Extract from Taxpayers" guide. It is apparent that those who once fiercely campaigned against the Cabinet’s billion-rand wastage on perks now fully indulge in the very excesses provided for by the handbook they once condemned.

ActionSA is unwilling to accept such blatant wastage and is preparing to pursue legislative reforms in this regard so that we can, once and for all, put an end to the unchecked extravagance and patronage enjoyed by the grand coalition, who are clearly unwilling to give up the self-serving excesses that fly in the face of millions of South Africans who go to bed hungry each day.

Issued by ActionSA Member of Parliament Dereleen James