TimesLive reports that the SA Policing Union (Sapu) says that President Jacob Zuma is constantly surrounded by 22 police bodyguards, who are drawn from a team of 88 members of the presidential close-protection unit.  

Questions have been raised about the size of Zuma's security detail - and the reasons for it – but the police unit concerned would not say why Zuma needs such a large security detail.  The police, the Presidency and the State Security Agency all refused to respond to questions relating to threats against Zuma.  The 2016-2017 budget for the police protection and security services programme was R2.6-billion for 6,445 personnel, with more than 5,000 of them believed to be VIP bodyguards.  Sapu’s president Mpho Kwinika questioned the police's silence on the matter and said:  "When the police refuse to answer to why Zuma has so many guards one must question the credibility of the so-called threats he faces.”

• Read this report by Graeme Hosken in full at TimesLive

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