The articles on "Fancy fleet for Zuma wives" published in newspapers on 1 March were inaccurate and misleading.
The need for the vehicles formed part of a tender process that was recently advertised as a result of the cessation of a previous tender. In another words, this is by no means an introduction of something new that the vehicles must be hired for use by the spouses of the president when fulfilling their roles in support of the president. This forms part of the security provisions for the spouses and this provision remains the mandate of the South African Police Service (SAPS). Therefore, it is not the president who "wants" the cars, as stated by Independent Newspapers. It is a routine operational issue by SAPS, which has nothing to do with the presidency.
The vehicles referred to in the above mentioned article will be vehicles for hire and not vehicles that must be "permanently available" as indicated in the article. The cost of hiring these vehicles does not encroach on the security issues per se. We opted not to disclose the costs because such disclosure will give an indication to potential bidders on what rates they should tender. To this end, the disclosure of such costs at this point in time will defeat the object of undergoing a tender process.
Furthermore, we were amased that the articles referred to the budget for Protection and Security Services as well as VIP protection in particular when such allocations have not yet been made.
Enquiries:
Colonel Vishnu Naidoo - Colonel
Tel: 012-400 6573
Cell: 082 567 4153
E-mail: mediacentre@saps.org.za
Source: South African Police Service
