Over R42 million spent on fuel for SAPS VIP protection over 6 years - Cele
Police Minister Bheki Cel revealed this in a written Parliamentary response to DA MP Andrew Whitfield, who had asked the costs of petrol and diesel since 2018.
FILE: Police Minister Bheki Cele. Picture: GCIS
CAPE TOWN - Minister of Police Bheki Cele says the South African Police Service (SAPS) has spent over R42 million on petrol and diesel over the six years.
This amount, according to Cele was purely for the police’s VIP Protection fleet.
Cele revealed this in a written Parliamentary response to Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Parliament (MP) Andrew Whitfield who had enquired about the costs of petrol and diesel since 2018.
Whitfield - who's the DA police spokesperson and police committee member - said the costs of fuel for VIP protection come while the rest of the country suffers from rising fuel prices and the cost of living.
According to Cele’s response, the National VIP Protection Centre in Gauteng was the biggest spender in 2023/24, topping up the tanks of the VIP fleet with over R2,2 million worth of fuel.
The reply shows that the second biggest spender is Mpumalanga, with over R1,1 million on fuel for the year.
Whitfield said while South Africans are suffering from crushing cost of living, including higher fuel prices, the African National Congress (ANC) keeps taking taxpayers for a ride “without having to put their hands in their pockets”.
He said just recently, the ANC increased the SAPS VIP Protection allocation in the mid-term budget by over R52 million.