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Under lockdown, millions of South Africans have had to tighten their purse strings.

We don’t need to go too much detail regarding the economic nightmare that we find ourselves in, as I’m sure you’re well versed on that front.

Meanwhile, when it comes to protecting our deputy president, David Mabuza, it appears that no expense shall be spared.

According to Business Day, and based off a written parliamentary reply by police minister Bheki Cele, the government spent a staggering R8,39 million on accommodating Mabuza’s security personnel between April 1 and September 30.

Cele said the accommodation was used for “protection duties”.

Mabuza has 28 VIP protection officers, who rotate weekly, with the expenditure broken down as follows:

• R6,173,743 was spent on accommodating Mabuza’s bodyguards;
• R9,818 on their transport;
• R883,744 on “incidental” costs; and
• R1,325,733 was spent on their meals in four establishments.

That seems a tad excessive, right?

DA MP Manny de Freitas thought so, which is why he asked Cele for a breakdown of this spending, dating back a few years.

Between April 2017 and March 2018, then deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa’s security accommodation costs were around R8,5 million, with the following 12 months totalling around R9,5 million.

For some reason, costs during the 2019/2020 financial year suddenly spiked to R15 million, which comes from the budget of the Presidential Protection Service.

Remember, this only covers costs related to accommodation.

Perhaps there is a COVID-19 related explanation to the sudden spike, like the need for extra rooms to ensure safe physical distancing, but why are taxpayers expected to fork out these sums in the first place?

28 VIP protection officers? The level of disconnect between those governing, and those that they govern, never ceases to amaze.

Meanwhile, let’s not forget that Mabuza, before he became Ramaphosa’s righthand man, was the Mpumalanga premier.

During his reign, he siphoned off money from schools and other public services in Mpumalanga “to buy loyalty and amass enormous power”, according to a New York Times report from 2018.

No wonder he seems so at home amongst the ANC top brass.

[source:businessday]