/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

Police Minister, Bheki Cele, should be billed in his personal capacity for chartering a South African Police Service (SAPS) helicopter to the ANC’s manifesto launch at Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban. Cele’s helicopter stunt was a gross abuse of state resources and he should be made to pay for every flight minute that the helicopter was in the air.

In addition, the DA is calling for a full SAPS internal investigation to review the decision making process that authorized the use of the helicopter by Cele. All the SAPS officers – across the chain of command, who signed off on this irregular use of a police asset, should be subjected to a disciplinary process.

In typical Cele fashion, the disgraced Police Minister has once again shown his disdain for the South African public by using state resources for an ANC party event. State resources, inclusive of SAPS assets, should never be used for party political events. By commandeering a helicopter from the SAPS Air wing Unit, Cele displayed an arrogant sense of entitlement that has become the hallmark of ANC politicians across the government system. He would rather divert SAPS’s crime fighting resources for his personal use than protect South Africans who are being terrorized by a crime wave that has become a national crisis.

It is clear that the ANC and its deployees in Government are so used to the high life of living without loadshedding, protected day and night by VIP protection, transported by blue light brigades and totally out of touch with the daily struggle of South Africans, that they have long since forgotten the line between State and Party.

Across the length and breath of our country, murders, rapists, hijackers, and robbers continue to terrorize South Africans who are told that the SAPS do not have the resources to combat these crimes. Yet the man who should be fired for the disastrous state of the Police Service, uses these limited resources as an Uber to get to the stadium in time for the ANC Manifesto launch.

The DA will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that Cele is held personally liable for the flight costs incurred through todays helicopter flight. For far too long taxpayers have been taken for a ride and this time, the DA will ensure that they get every cent of their money back.

Issued by Andrew Whitfield MP - DA Shadow Minister of Police