South African bishops criticize police presence at private wedding

May 21, 2013

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has criticized “the deployment of the police flying squad and other elements of the security forces” and “the use of an air-force base by a privately-chartered jet” during a recent wedding of prominent Indian entrepreneurs.

“The South African Police Services should busy itself with combating crime, for which there is a crying need, not with providing a private security service at taxpayers’ expense,” said the bishops. “This whole episode merely reinforces the perception that people who are well-connected politically do not have to observe the same rules as ordinary citizens.”

“We cannot afford to gain the reputation of being a country where it is ‘who you know’ that counts, and where wealth can buy privileged treatment from the authorities,” the bishops added.

 

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Further information:

• The Bishops say they want explanations for the apparent misuse of State property for a private wedding (Fides)
• Gupta wedding scandal: Indian official implicated, Jacob Zuma absolved (PTI)