Ministers, premiers must relinquish their VIP protection to help end SA unrest, says DA’s Mazzone

DA chief whip Natasha Mazzone says the party wants Cabinet ministers and provincial premiers to relinquish their VIP protection services in order to assist with the deployment of extra police officers to restore law and order in communities affected by looting and public violence.

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Mazzone says the DA also wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to increase the number of 2,500 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members deployed to assist police in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

“We are calling for mass deployment of the SANDF to assist police forces in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng areas where the violence has flared out of control. We are asking for extra police officers to be sent into those areas. In other words, everyone who is on leave and everyone scattered across the country must please come back and back up these forces,” she said, speaking on the DA’s The Inside Track programme.

Mazzone said there were 8,000 VIP protection services personnel guarding ministers and premiers and these resources could be better utilised elsewhere in this time of social unrest.

“We have 8,000 VIP security forces across our country. We’re asking for ministers, premiers and the like to relinquish their security services and bring in those VIP security services in the areas where we require them.”

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The DA also wants Parliament to reconvene urgently in order to provide leadership to South Africans.

“The people of the country are in a dire state. People are terrified all around the country… people want to see that their leaders are not hiding out in their fancy homes surrounded by 200 plus VIP security. You want to see your MPs in the National Assembly having these discussions and coming up with solutions in the public terrain,” Mazzone said.

On Wednesday morning, President Cyril Ramaphosa held a virtual meeting with leaders of various political parties in a bid to quell the public violence. This followed a meeting on Tuesday with the National Security Council to assess developments around the country. The president also met with religious leaders from different faith communities.

More than 70 people have died so far from the ongoing riots centred in parts of KZN and Gauteng that have seen the destruction of property and looting of numerous businesses and shopping centres. A total of 1,234 people have been arrested.

Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni is expected to brief the media in Pretoria on Wednesday afternoon on the security situation.