Residents ‘will have to pay’ for City of Joburg’s incompetence as court rules on controversial VIP policy

Political office bearers in the City of Johannesburg are set to lose a significant portion of their security detail, but the DA says the city’s residents will have to pay for the debacle.

The Johannesburg High Court on Thursday ruled that the Executive Mayor, Chief-Whip and Speaker of the Council can legally only be afforded two bodyguards each.

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It comes after the City passed a new law last year that saw the mayor receive 10 bodyguards and the speaker receive eight, without evidence of a threat-risk assessment.

Excessive security

Some MMCs, such as MMC of Finance Margret Arnolds, received five bodyguards, while MMC of Transport Kenny Kunene received four.

There were instances where some of the City’s senior administrators also had bodyguards.

According to the court, this policy is invalid and unconstitutional and has now been set aside.

ALSO READ: Court rules City of Joburg’s VIP policy unconstitutional and invalid

DA caucus leader in the City of Johannesburg, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, told The Citizen that there was a time in the City of Johannesburg when political office bearers drove themselves and did not have bodyguards.

However, she said the DA has been vindicated by the court ruling which is in line with regulations over who should get private protection.

“The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg is starting 2025 on a high, having come out victorious in our court action against the City of Johannesburg’s (CoJ) VIP protection policy.”

The DA had complained that the policy was costing the City millions of rands and was taking the focus away from service delivery.

“We immediately raised our concerns inside the council and cautioned the City that this policy violates the constitutional upper limits and urged it to withdraw the policy.

“Despite this, the ANC-EFF-PA-ASA coalition ridiculed us and used its numerical advantage to pass this through council.”

Was there a risk-threat assessment procedure?

The court has now asked the City to produce the threat-risk analysis that had been carried out on each individual politician who received protection and those who had increased protection.

The judgment is suspended until 14 February 2025, giving the city time to provide this.

“We aren’t holding our breath for those, as they have failed to provide them for over a year,” Kayser-Echeozonjoku said.

The judgment means that the political office bearers could lose the comfort of the luxury cars they use, which includes a BMW 3 series, Lexus’ and an entourage of other vehicles.

Residents to pay the cost

The court has also granted the DA a cost order, which means the City should pay the legal fees of the party.

“Unfortunately, the City has had to learn yet another costly lesson in the rule of law.

“Residents of Johannesburg will have to pay for the lack of good governance and due diligence by the City,” Kayser-Echeozonjoku said.

Are politicians in grave danger?

The mayor’s spokesperson, Chris Vondo, said the City was studying the judgment with the view of implementing it.

“The City is undertaking internal and external consultations so that all the issues in the judgement are attended to.

‘I am sure you have observed the attitude of the leadership in respecting the court’s decisions.”

Vondo blamed the DA for the policy and described it as an inheritance from the Multi-Party Coalition that was removed.

The City previously argued that the VIP policy is necessary to ensure the safety of political office bearers.

“The policy stipulates that protection services are offered on an ad-hoc basis, based on a threat risk assessment conducted by either the State Security Agency or the South African Police Services. 

“Furthermore, there has been no additional budget allocation for this purpose, and there is no diversion of resources from essential service delivery to fund protection services,” said the City.

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