Johannesburg – The acronym for Gauteng Province is “GP” – translated in the streets as “Gangsters Paradice” – has seemingly induced fear in City authorities to the point of wanting more bodyguards.
Considering that Gauteng accounted for 26.9% of all reported crimes in the country in the latest crime stats, it is not a surprise the mayor of Johannesburg wants at least 10 bodyguards and the Speaker would feel safer with eight protectors.
The major problem remains that service-starved residents, themselves exposed to all kinds of crimes, would have to pick up the bill to keep the mayor and Speaker safe.
Needless to say, the crime-fearing City of Johannesburg agreed to implement a VIP protection policy on 20 March 2024.
“We immediately raised our concerns inside Council and cautioned the City that this policy violates the constitutional upper limits and urged it to withdraw the policy,” said Cllr Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Johannesburg Caucus Leader.
“Despite this, the ANC-EFF-PA-ActionSA coalition ridiculed us and used its numerical advantage to pass this through council.”
From the start, something felt rotten with this arrangement – considering that the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs sets a limit of two bodyguards for the mayor and other officials.
This week, on Thursday, (2 January 2025), the high court in Johannesburg ruled that the City’s VIP protection policy was “unconstitutional and invalid”.
No wonder the DA in Johannesburg was gloating, saying it “started 2025 on a high, having come out victorious in our court action against the City of Johannesburg’s VIP protection policy”.
Cllr Kayser-Echeozonjoku added: “Unfortunately, the City has had to learn yet another costly lesson in the rule of law”.
The judgment was, however, suspended until 14 February 2025, to give the City of Johannesburg time to provide a “threat and risk analysis” justifying the need for more bodyguards for the mayor and Speaker.
“We aren’t holding our breath for those, as they have failed to provide them for over a year,” said Cllr Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
“The DA has always maintained that money should be spent on residents and not on expensive VIP bodyguards for politicians.
“We will always stand on the side of the residents of Johannesburg and the rule of law.
“Something the City of Johannesburg will now be forced to abide by.”
