According to a 2018 Times Live Article, there are 81 officers from the police’s Presidential Protection Unit (PPU) for every one of the 17 politicians it protected full-time in 2017/18.

National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sithole revealed in a parliamentary reply on July 3 that there were 1‚382 officers in this unit‚ which cost taxpayers R693-million in 2017/18.

According to the police’s 2016/17 annual report‚ there was one police officer for every 369 South Africans. This means that there are 81 police officers for every politician, but 369 South Africans share 1 police officer!

In a parliamentary reply last year‚ former police minister Fikile Mbalula confirmed that in 2016/17 the PPU protected, among others, then President Jacob Zuma‚ his deputy at the time, and now President Cyril Ramaphosa‚ former Presidents FW de Klerk‚ Thabo Mbeki‚ and Kgalema Motlanthe‚ and Zuma’s four wives along with Ramaphosa’s wife. 

More recently, on 10 December 2022, Police Minister Bheki Cele attended a funeral, accompanied by 5 flying squad cars, 4 VIP SUV's, 3 TRT minibuses and a public order policing armoured vehicle (Nyala). See the Twitter thread. All of this for a single person when the country is drowning in violent crime and corruption!

This is clearly at the heart of some of the problems that are faced by South Africans.

Sign this petition and demand that Parliament changes this to 2 police protection officers per member of the National Executive only. The rest should not receive any at special protection at all!