Cachalia defends R600 million June 30 police operation, says spending prevented violence

Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has defended the more than R600 million spent on the police operation during the June 30 protests, saying the deployment was necessary to prevent a repeat of past violent unrest.

Speaking during an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration media briefing on Sunday, Cachalia said the funding came entirely from the existing police budget. He explained that the money was used to mobilise resources needed to respond to a potential security threat, including calling up reservists, paying overtime, and accommodating police officers deployed across the country.

“There have been a lot of questions about the cost of police action on June the 30th,” Cachalia said.

He noted that while the focus of the previous briefing had been on preventing a possible violent shutdown, public questions had since shifted toward concerns about strengthening law enforcement and addressing challenges related to vigilantism and groups allegedly fuelling tensions.

Cachalia said the government’s absolute priority ahead of June 30 was to ensure there was no repeat of the unrest experienced during previous violent protests.

“Our first responsibility in the build-up to June the 30th was to make it very clear that we will not have a repeat of July 21, that we will mobilise the necessary resources across the country to keep the country safe,” he said. He added that the government was acutely aware of the financial, human, and economic consequences of failing to prepare for major security threats.

Cachalia clarified that the South African Police Service (SAPS) budget inherently includes provisions for responding to emergencies and special operations.

“No new money was allocated. From the existing budget, we were able to respond,” he said.

“When you have a special operation, which is what happened on June the 30th, and we saw sporadic incidents of violence that threatened to get out of hand, you have to call up reservists. You have to pay overtime. You have to accommodate police officers across the country. We don’t have accommodation facilities across the country. We have to pay for that,” Cachalia explained.

He said the deployment was also being leveraged to strengthen broader crime-fighting efforts, including operations targeting organised crime.

“On the back of this operation, like Operation Shanela, we have existing law enforcement initiatives to reduce crime. We are using this mobilisation to strengthen our efforts to fight crime, including organised crime,” he said.

Cachalia stated that the operations were intelligence-driven, adding that police resources would continue to be deployed to respond to security challenges as South Africa approaches the 2026 local government elections. He emphasized that the government has a responsibility to ensure that elections are conducted in a safe environment, particularly amid concerns over political violence.

“Nobody here will say that we shouldn’t be budgeting to ensure that we have a peaceful election,” Cachalia said.

Pointing to the fact that the country has already seen councillors targeted, he questioned whether the police could afford not to deploy the necessary resources to investigate such crimes and protect the electoral process.

“We’ve already seen, I think, 12 councillors have already been murdered. Must I, as a police minister, sit back and say, well, I’m not going to spend the resources that are required to ensure that those who are killing councillors are investigated, that they are brought to book, that our election is safe and secure?” Cachalia said.

Cachalia said the recent voter registration weekend demonstrated the importance of effective policing, adding that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had described the police operation during the registration period as the best it had ever experienced.

“The head of the Independent Electoral Commission told me a few days ago that the police operation that they saw was the best ever around the registration weekend,” he said.

According to the Minister, law enforcement agencies will continue working to keep the country safe over the next six months as tensions inevitably increase ahead of the elections.

Cachalia credited local communities, Community Policing Forums (CPFs), and community patrollers for actively supporting police efforts during the June 30 protests, noting that this cooperation helped prevent further violence. He went on to praise SAPS members, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), and intelligence agencies for their role in maintaining stability.

“I want to applaud the police for the responsibility with which they kept the country safe, and I want to applaud the marchers for observing the law, for acting with responsibility for the most part,” he said.

He maintained that the heavy expenditure on the security operation was entirely justified because it prevented far greater damage.

“The money was well spent on June the 30th. What conversation would we have been having had we had a repeat? Massive destruction of property, maximum destruction of lives,” Cachalia said. “The South African Police Services demonstrated what they can achieve acting within the framework of our constitution.”

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