The South African Police spent R306 million on protests against illegal immigration
Acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, said they spent R306 million on security operations in relation to the protests against illegal immigration on 30 June 2026.
He shared this information in response to a Parliamentary question about the South African Police Service’s deployments for the event.
Cachalia explained that the R306 million included overtime payments, subsistence and travel allowances, accommodation costs, and reservists’ remuneration.
Other costs not recorded against the project, such as fuel, communication, and additional visibility costs, are not included in the amount.
“Police members deployed away from their places of work were responsible for arranging and paying for their own accommodation,” he said.
“The expenditure incurred was subsequently reimbursed through the applicable travel and subsistence claims process.”
“Consequently, accommodation service providers were not paid directly by the South African Police Service through the electronic supplier payment system.”
Instead, the Police Minister explained, payment was made by the individual police members concerned.
The South African Police Service is currently finalising outstanding claims for reservist remuneration, overtime payments, and travel claims.
The SA Police Service allocated R600 million for policing and security operations in relation to the protests against illegal immigration on 30 June 2026.
That means that R294 million of this initial allocation was not used during the illegal immigration protests.
Cachalia explained that the remaining balance will be used to support preparatory and operational requirements for the forthcoming Local Government Elections.
These requirements, he said, include fuel and vehicle maintenance to enhance operational visibility during the elections.
What the R306 million was spent on
| Category of expenditure | Total expenditure |
| Overtime remuneration | R 251 846 639 |
| Travel and subsistence allowance | R 49 068 086 |
| Reservists | R 3 206 494 |
| Accommodation | R 2 087 258 |
| Total | R 306 208 477 |
Where the R306 million was spent
| Geographic area | Total expenditure |
| Eastern Cape | R 51 844 458 |
| Free State | R 25 711 926 |
| Gauteng | R 39 975 394 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | R 57 640 239 |
| Limpopo | R 14 446 885 |
| Mpumalanga | R 16 170 872 |
| North West | R 25 964 697 |
| Northern Cape | R 23 410 154 |
| Western Cape | R 31 630 786 |
| National competencies | R 19 413 066 |
| Total | R 306 208 477 |
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It would have been great if those millions could have been properly spent on daily criminality… or is that just wishful thinking… amazing that vast amounts of money suddenly become available 🤑🤑🤑