Jason Felix
Africa-Press – South-Africa. Providing security at the recently held BRICS summit cost the South African taxpayer R75 million.
According to Police Minister Bheki Cele, more than 5 000 police officers were deployed and 700 vehicles were utilised for the two-day event.
He was responding to a written parliamentary question from DA MP Delmaine Christians, who asked about the cost of policing the summit.
“A total number of 5 234 SA Police Service (SAPS) members were deployed during the summit and a total number of 726 SAPS vehicles were utilised. An amount of approximately R75 000 000 was spent. There was no additional security with regards to the summit,” Cele said.
In a statement, Christians bemoaned the large sum of money spent while ordinary South Africans are faced with murder, rape, robberies and kidnappings due to an underfunded police service.
The details come days after South Africa was ranked seventh in the world out of 193 countries for mafia-style criminal networks and organised crime syndicates by the 2023 Global Organised Crime Index.
Christians said: “It is unacceptable that scarce police resources had to be splurged on a controversial event that is used to drive the agenda of the ANC and not address the best interests of South Africans. Expenditure of the country’s policing budget on the summit will not only have little economic benefit for the country but will more likely worsen instability and security issues, given the further expansion of BRICS into authoritarian states with a tendency to operate outside the internationally established rule of law.”
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She said Cele and the ANC government’s willingness to forego the protection of ordinary citizens while they “transform the incapacitated and under-resourced police service into a VIP protection service for delegates from countries that include mafia states is a direct indication of the absolute disregard that the ANC has for the safety and protection of South Africans”.
Cele’s office was requested to comment on the matter but had yet to do so by the time of publication. Comments will be added to this article once received.
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