By Correspondent
A South African High Court has ruled as illegal the assignment of 10 bodyguards and 6 vehicles to Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero.
The judgment also applies to the Speaker of Council, who was assigned eight bodyguards and a fleet of five cars.
Security of Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) was boosted based on the perceived risks associated with their respective portfolios.
However, in the ruling the Court felt that the city had not provided a valid justification for the changes.
“It is common cause that the City Council has not obtained a threat assessment or other report from SAPS.
“That might have justified any of these departures from the Ministerial determinations.
“The papers in this case suggest that the City might have thought that it could obtain a threat assessment after passing the 20 March resolution.
“The second respondent’s resolution is thus declared unconstitutional and invalid and is set aside”.
However, the ruling will only be enforced after six weeks.
This will give the city time to justify the decision with a threat analysis.
The security changes by Joburg City are a result of a resolution in March last year to enhance the security detail of councillors.
This is Morero’s second bite as mayor, having served in the post for just 25 days in 2022.
He succeeded Kabelo Gwamanda who resigned in the eighth change in the city’s top job since December 2019.
