How ex-top cop Khehla Sitole’s arms fiasco cost SA R1bn

Former police commissioner Gen Khehla Sitole’s firearms fiasco has cost taxpayers more than R1bn as the South African Police Service (SAPS) incurs interest of R1m a week on a R460m contract he reneged on.

The police’s failure to pay led to the controversial shutdown of a sophisticated biometrics system for firearm permits in 2019 by service providerForensic Data Analysts (FDA). The shutdown means police must now manually write up the details of firearms that are booked in, as well as the daily issuing of firearms to officers.