R57 million spent on national shutdown in one province

South Africa’s anti-immigration protests on 30 June cost the country roughly R306 million, with KwaZulu-Natal accounting for the largest portion of SAPS expenses.

This amount was confirmed by the acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, in parliament in response to questions about his department’s expenditure.

He said that the South African Police Service (SAPS) had spent R306 billion on the protests, including overtime and accommodation expenses.

This amount is less than the R600 million which SAPS initially allocated for additional peacekeeping efforts during the protests.

The 30 June protests followed months of growing discontent from some groups over the number of illegal immigrants in South Africa.

One of the largest groups, March and March, organised widespread protests on 30 June throughout South Africa.

This date was set by the group and several others as a deadline for foreign nationals staying in South Africa illegally to leave the country.

In a press briefing a week before the protests, March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma said the date was a deadline for “self-deportation”.

“It was meant as a way to encourage people who know they are staying in the country illegally to self-deport,” she said.

Despite the group saying that the protests would be peaceful, many South Africans feared that they would lead to unrest.

This was due to previous protests in South Africa, which turned into unrest, such as those in KwaZulu-Natal in 2021.

Concerns also came from clashes between illegal foreigners and anti-immigrant protesters becoming violent in the build-up to the 30 June protests.

After anti-immigration protests in Mossel Bay and near Pietermaritzburg, several people were killed in the weeks leading up to 30 June.

Concerns about protests turning violent prompted Cachalia to allocate R600 million for additional peacekeeping for the planned demonstrations in June.

The most expensive province

Despite the initial allocation, the SAPS only spent R306 million on deployments for the demonstrations.

The acting minister broke this expenditure down by province, showing where most of the money was spent.

The largest by province was for KwaZulu-Natal, where March and March was originally formed, representing R57.6 million of the total R306 million.

Several demonstrations had been held in KwaZulu-Natal, and specifically Durban, leading up to the protesters’ deadline.

The province also struggled with a large number of immigrants looking to leave the country in the build-up to the protests.

This prompted South Africa’s government to establish a priority court to handle the massive influx of deportation cases.

By the end of 25 June, the government said it had deported over 15,000 illegal Malawian immigrants.

The eThekwini municipality also established a temporary shelter for Malawian immigrants in Sherwood Hall, before moving to the old Durban Drive-in.

The Eastern Cape had the second-highest budget allocation, at approximately R52 million, while Gauteng had the third-highest.

Cachalia said that his department was in the process of finalising some outstanding claims from the demonstrations.

“The South African Police Service is currently in the process of finalising outstanding claims relating to the remuneration of reservists, overtime payments and travel claims,” he said.

He also noted that the remainder of the R600 million allocated to the demonstrations would be used for peacekeeping efforts during South Africa’s upcoming elections.

“Any remaining balance will be utilised to support preparatory and operational requirements associated with the forthcoming Local Government Elections, including expenditure on fuel and vehicle maintenance to enhance operational visibility,” he said.

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Breakdown of SAPS expenditure by province

Province	Total expenditure
KwaZulu-Natal	R57 640 239
Eastern Cape	R51 844 458
Gauteng	R39 975 394
Western Cape	R31 630 786
North West	R25 964 697
Northern Cape	R23 410 154
Free State	R25 711 926
Mpumalanga	R16 170 872
Limpopo	R14 446 885
National Competencies	R19 413 066