The City of Johannesburg’s (CoJ) policy on VIP escorts has been declared unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid in court.
South African motorists are no strangers to these intimidating escorts, colloquially referred to as the Blue Light Brigade and, more recently, Blue Light Bullies.
Under the guise of protecting so-called “VIPs”, the Blue Light Brigades often put the lives of other road users at risk by speeding and driving unpredictably in heavy traffic while flashing their headlights at the cars in front.
They have allegedly also been observed showing weapons such as handguns and rifles to motorists who do not let them pass through quickly enough.
This aggressive attitude toward normal motorists has led to several altercations between civilians and VIP protection officers.
Perhaps the most ubiquitous of them all, an incident went viral in mid-2023 when a VIP convoy was seen boxing in and pulling over a motorist on the side of the N1 highway in Fourways, Gauteng, proceeding to violently assault the occupants before getting back into their vehicles and speeding off, leaving the citizens to tend to their own injuries.
The incident sparked media and public outrage and shone a light on the shady VIP escort practices of many municipalities.
In early 2024, it was also revealed that Blue Light Brigades have cost South African taxpayers north of R42 million over the past six years in fuel costs alone, equating to a staggering monthly bill of R583,000.
With Blue Light Bullies once again in the limelight at the time, and not in a pleasant manner, it finally forced some municipalities to rethink their VIP escort customs.
No contest
According to Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the CoJ passed the new VIP Risk Management Policy in council on 20 March 2024 with the ANC-EFF-PA-ActionSA coalition using its numerical advantage to bypass the concerns raised by other council members and get the policy approved.
The DA shortly thereafter initiated a court application seeking to declare the policy unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid, which was ruled on in the early days of 2025. The DA was also granted a cost order in this regard.
The court judgment was suspended until 14 February 2025, providing the CoJ time to provide threat and risk analyses justifying this expense.
However, following the ruling, CoJ Executive Mayor Dada Morero issued a formal statement that said that the City will not appeal the judgment.
“This decision has been made with the intention of providing transparency and clarity regarding the protocol used to approve the policy, addressing any public concern effectively,” the mayor said.
Furthermore, Morero said that since the inception of the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, there has been no formal policy document governing the implementation of VIP security measures.
Over the years, security measures were approved based on specific reported threats with a comprehensive threat risk assessment conducted by either the State Security Agency (SSA) or the South African Police Service (SAPS) preceding any approval.
However, the expansion of these services occurred irregularly and without a guiding policy, which the newly approved VIP Risk Management Policy sought to address.
“The policy, which has been endorsed by the council, aims to regularise and standardise the provision of protection services in alignment with applicable legislation and regulations,” said Morero.
It specifies that protection services will be provided on an ad-hoc basis, contingent upon a threat risk assessment completed by the SAA or SAPS.
“This policy is crucial in ensuring that we have a structured approach to providing necessary protection to our councillors when dictated by risk assessments,” he said.
“It establishes a framework that the city can rely upon to respond appropriately to potential threats.”
Morero also emphasised that the inspectors responsible for Blue Light escorts are part of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department and that no new appointments were made for these positions.
“The City of Johannesburg remains committed to the safety and security of its leadership and will continue to operate within the parameters set by this newly approved policy,” concluded the mayor.
“As such, the city will study the full judgment and develop an implementation plan which will be communicated.”
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