It’s always struck me as rather odd the way ANC politicians and public servants seem obsessed with security. Surely, as democratically elected representatives of the people they should feel free to walk in the streets without let or hindrance? The much-hated apartheid hierarchy were certainly nowhere near as paranoid about being assassinated as our supposedly much-loved present leadership is. Nowadays every two-bit town clerk, mayor, deputy minister or third wife demands a throng of square-jawed thugs in black suits, dripping with earphones and sunglasses, to accompany them wherever they go, and all at the taxpayers’ expense.
Years ago I met an ex-cop who was very partial to the old South Africa and not too fond of the new. We started talking about his days of being an official bodyguard, and the man came up with some enlightening anecdotes. He and a couple of colleagues were once looking after a very high-profile Nationalist cabinet minister who booked into a room at the Royal Hotel in Durban. They were holding station outside the door of his suite when two hookers arrived. “The minister let them in and told us to take the night off, but we declined because our job was to look after him,” the ex-cop told me. The discussion became a little heated. “Eventually we compromised and agreed to sit in the lounge downstairs for an hour or two while he enjoyed the privacy he obviously needed.” While they were downstairs the bodyguards were called to the phone. It was the minister, instructing them to bring some drinks up to his room. They declined and told him to call room service because they were there to protect him, not wait on him.
Interestingly, the same right-wing fellow was tasked with looking after Nelson Mandela in the same hotel after the old man was released from prison but before the ’94 election. He and his two colleagues saw Madiba to his room and took up station on chairs outside the door. After an hour or so Mandela opened the door, saw them there and told them there was no need to sit up all night as he was going to sleep. They told him that they had to do their duty so he went back inside. A few minutes later the door opened once again, and the future president told them he’d organised for them to occupy the room across the passage, so two could sleep while one sat up watching his door, each in turn.
That showed class.
There were two interesting stories in my morning newspapers today that got me thinking about this subject. The Mercury kicked off my day with a front-page story about Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma, South Africa’s first, second or third wife, whatever, being found guilty of unlawfully dismissing her domestic worker, and ordered to cough up R16 000. The story mentioned that when the worker, Sbongile Doris Ngobese, stayed off sick (after being short paid), Ntuli-Zuma sent her bodyguard to give Ngobese her money and get her back to work. The bodyguard returned with the sick note and no solution to the mounting piles of dirty dishes and ironing, so he was sent back the next day to tell the domestic not to bother returning to work. I don’t know how Ntuli-Zuma coped with the immense pressure of fearing for her life while her bodyguard couriered messages between her and her aggrieved domestic servant, but I’m quite sure he was the most expensive deliveryman in town.
The second story, in The Times, reported on the attack on Zindzi Mandela’s family as they arrived at their northern Johannesburg home earlier this week. The report said that two unknown gunmen pounced on the car carrying Zindzi’s children when the driver dropped them at home after their famous grandfather’s birthday party the Sunday before. “The driver,” said the paper “is believed to be Winnie Mandela’s bodyguard”.
Not a very good one either, by the sounds of it. He apparently lay down on the ground at the request of the bad guys before the shooting broke out, and then, when he did eventually draw his weapon managed to not hit anybody in the subsequent shootout.
I’m glad that the four children escaped this very peculiar attack without injury, but would still like to know how the criminally convicted ex-wife of a president, albeit a great one, who left office more than a decade ago qualifies for a full-time bodyguard at my expense. And, if she does need one, should he be sent out to chauffeur her daughter’s children around, no doubt in government vehicles using government fuel? And who was looking after Winnie, whose life is apparently under permanent threat, while her bodyguard played taxi driver to her grandkids?
There’s only one simple explanation. The ruling elite has bodyguards chiefly as status symbols, but they also come in handy for carrying messages to the servants, and for playing taxi driver to friends and family when required.
Brilliant
“It’s immoral to let a sucker keep his money.”
– Canada Bill Jones, poker player
Taxpayer = Sucker!!!
a very nicely written piece that asks many questions ….
Awesome article, by the some token how does Julius Malema qualify for security when he had no official government position? Of course the man does seem to have more enemies than most but why is he more worthy of protection than any man in the street.
It’s a fragile ego thing, same as all the flashing blue lights and Ministers being called Commandant-General. Nothing to do with security. They should all (Presidents, Cabinet Ministers, MPs, MPL, Councillors, the lot), undergo intensive therapy before they actually take up their seats.
Also known as the “Post-Apartheid Syndrome” – nothing to feel superior to any longer.
Body guards are vital in bashing unsuspecting motorists out of the way on our ‘free ways’, that are not free to South African Citizens but are free for all race tracks for our ‘holier than thou’ politicians.
One of the best ever cartoons of yesteryear was produced by our great ‘Madam and Eve’ cartoonists who showed Winnie Mandella at the inauguration of Nelson as our President. All it showed was her ridiculous bee hive hat sticking up out of a crowd of heavily armed bodyguards. That says it all.
It now appears that body guards are there to shoot at innocent motorists, arrest people who object to be forced off the road, or as common ‘gophers’ – go for this or go for that and we, the taxpayers have to pay for this service despite the outrageous salaries that politicians are paid for raiding the treasury and, doing very little else but entertain us with their songs, dances and preposterus promises.
IN the 80′s, I worked near Parliament in Cape Town
and had the daily scenically wonderful de Waal Drive commute
Besides the scenery and fynbos, I often spied PW Botha and Pik Botha being driven to work in a 350SL Mercedes with light greeen (obviously bullet proof)windows, but clearly visible to all. Beside the driver there was one body guard: and that was it.
The most hated apartheid leaders in the world and yet they required far less protection than ANC cadres with a 70% majority vote
In the mid-1960s I observed Harry Oppenheimer driving himself to work in 44 Main Street. In the 1970s I saw him walking unaccompanied across the Carlton Centre piazza towards Main Street. In the early 1980s we would visit the same barber, whose shop was located several blocks away from Anglo American’s head office. He would walk there, too, without bodyguard. All of which attests to his lack of pretension, and to the safety of streets in those days.
Good observations.
The Bard had the right way to decribe this stange behaviour way back in 1630 when he wrote:
“Man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he’s most assur’d,
His glassy essence, like an angry ape,
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven,
As make the angels weep.”
[Measure for Measure (Act 2, Scene 2)]
It is absolutely tragic that in a country, where many of our people sacrificed themselves in order to help the country break free of the sick system of Apartheid, that the current political leadership feels the need for fleets of bodyguards even if they use them for other duties than guarding. To me it shows that they do not really know that the struggle was for a quality of communal life not possible under the sickness of the Apartheid mindset.
You’ve got to laugh, or else you’ll cry. It’s called having an inflated opinion of one’s own importance and comes from understanding one’s electorate too well despite caring so little about it.
This “take it to the extremes” security seems to be an African thing. Had many laughs while witnessing the same folly in other African countries. Saw the last few vehicles of a Presidential convoy end in a pile up due to the excessive dust stirred on those unpaved roads. Always wondered as to the reason and necessity of these expanded body guard teams. Never imagined that our leaders would follow suite. Ho-hum.
I think it’s all about inferiority complex. How can you feel important if you don’t have a huge and expensive black cars and a few MIB’s in attendance. Chances are nobody would recognise you in public and when people fail to and ignore you, you would realise just how unimportant 95% of you really are. Poor fragile egos.
in ireland i’ve seen ministers and MP s do a walk about without body guards as they have nothing to fear from the people who have elected them.. the only person in the vicinity might be a driver.. wonder how many Juju will he have when he is in higher ranks…
Great article. The reason for the square jawed thugs in black is to show the public where the clowns are. If our ministers and their numerous entourages were any good they wouldn’t need protection other than that given out of respect by the tax paying public.
Apartheid cabinet ministers had “more enemies” but “needed less security” than the present democratically elected cabinet ministers. Most interesting!
The logic?The amount of security you need is not determined by how many enemies you have but by how dangerous your enemies are!
For example if your “enemy” is some panga wielding squatter camp dweller who engages in so called “xenophobic attacks” on “designated foreigners”then all you need is one armed security guard.On the other hand if your “enemy” is some highly trained Al Qaeda operative ; be afraid , be very afraid!
Million dollar questions(1) who were the enemies of the previous Apartheid government and dangerous were they? (2) Who are the enemies of the present ANC government and how dangerous are they?
Politically, the bodyguards are needed for the “enemy from within”, in as far as ANC politicians are concerned. The enemy is never the political rival from another party…plus the status symbol matters; they do not give a damn that the poor tax payers have to pay for these excesses!
Mayor of London Boris Johnson commutes to work on a bicycle. The former Chancellor Alistair Darling travels by train. I have on a number of occasions seen ministers entering and exiting functions from normal cars like Ford Focus’s with just a driver.
Chris Hani stayed in one of the conservative towns in South Africa – Boksburg, and guess what he was gunned down without a bodyguard.
As usual an excellent read Gavin. Thought provoking and humorous. One of the better insights where our tax money goes…….
“the criminally convicted ex-wife of a president, albeit a great one”…silly me for immigrating in 1996. To think of the wonderful occurences that have happened in South Africa over the past 14 years,and I’ve gone missed them all! Brings a tear to the eye. Great president indeed..
Mrs Madikizela-Mandela does not have bodyguards provided by the State, nor does she have vehicles provided by the State, nor does she use petrol provided by the State – she was married to Mandela at the time of his Presidency and is therefore as a former first lady probably entitled to them.
I would suggest that an apology from yourself to Mrs Madikizela-Mandela would be appropriate.
The ANC mantra – Let the lumpen proletariet eat cake