R775m spent on SA VIP security
Counter assault team members stand on the roof of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation Youth Centre as US President Barack Obama takes part in a health event there with youth in Cape Town on Sunday. The cost for Obama's visit to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania has been placed at between R500m and R900m " for just a week. Counter assault team members stand on the roof of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation Youth Centre as US President Barack Obama takes part in a health event there with youth in Cape Town on Sunday. The cost for Obama's visit to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania has been placed at between R500m and R900m " for just a week.
A total of R775.7 million a year. That’s what it costs taxpayers to ensure that President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and other high-profile dignitaries are safe.
Even so, this figure is insignificant to what the US government is spending on providing tip-top security to President Barack Obama during his official state visit to Africa.
The cost for Obama’s visit to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania has been placed at between R500m and R900m – for just a week.
South Africa’s funds cover protection for many people and installations.
The country has budgeted R775.7m for VIP Protection Services, run by the SAPS, for the 2013/14 financial year.
The R775.7m pays for protection for the president, deputy president, former presidents, their spouses and other dignitaries while in transit, according to the 2013 Budget.
“In the first half of 2012/13, protection was provided to 317 South African and foreign dignitaries without security breaches,” the national Budget expenditure book indicated.
Another R894.5m is spent on the static and mobile security programme, also funded by the SAPS budget.
This is for protection of “other local and foreign dignitaries and the places in which all dignitaries, including persons related to the president and the deputy president, are present.
“In the first half of 2012/13, protection at 154 residences and installations was provided, with two security breaches occurring,” said the Budget.
Together, those two programmes will cost the SAPS R1.67bn for 2013/14.
This does not include the spending on national key points, which runs through another programme.
About 1 800 security personnel, mostly bodyguards, are employed in the VIP Protection Services, while 3 570 security staff are employed in static and mobile security.
Despite the special security measures accorded to Obama during his visit, his security team were not taking any chances during his visit to South Africa.
They provided bulletproof trucks, while at least 445 Secret Service agents accompanied the most powerful person in the world.
Military freight planes brought a range of vehicles, including one with state-of-the-art communications systems and a truck to scramble radio frequencies in the immediate vicinity of Obama.
There is also an aircraft carrier stationed near the coast. Fighter planes patrol the surrounding airspace constantly.
DA police spokeswoman, Dianne Kohler Barnard, said it was not unusual for Obama to employ such extraordinary security measures, especially in the light of threats by fundamentalist Muslim groups.