Steenhuisen’s R2.8m blue light SUVs spark backlash amid DA’s stance on VIP privileges

The DA leader and minister of agriculture in the Government of National Unity (GNU), John Steenhuisen, has three department-owned executive SUVs equipped with blue lights and with a combined value of more than R2.8-million, it emerged this week.

The DA has previously criticised the privileges Cabinet ministers receive, including the use of VIP protection services and blue light brigades.

After the formation of the GNU, DA federal chairperson Helen Zille said DA ministers should put the brakes on blue light brigades.

“I certainly hope they won’t take the full benefits of that Ministerial Handbook because they’re absolutely absurd… I hope they won’t go running around in blue light brigades, because that certainly has been our policy for a very long time,” said Zille in an interview with 702’s Clement Manyathela in July last year.

In a post on X on Monday, 6 January, Zille confirmed that the policy that DA ministers would not use blue lights had not changed.

Nothing. Which DA Ministers use blue lights?

— Helen Zille (@helenzille) January 6, 2025

In response to questions from Daily Maverick on Tuesday evening, Zille said the vehicles “may be routinely fitted with blue lights but the issue is whether they are used.

“I don’t believe they are,” she said. “When I was premier [of the Western Cape] the vehicle came standard with blue lights, which were never used.”

Steenhuisen revealed his blue-light cavalcade in a recent written parliamentary response to questions from ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip.

Trollip had asked the agriculture minister to provide clarification on the modes of transport he utilised for executive duties.

Steenhuisen said three cars were allocated to him: a 2018 Audi Q7, a 2019 Toyota Prado and a 2020 BMW X5.

“The combined purchase price of the three vehicles is R2,806,906.30,” he said.

Read more: SA’s blue-light spending spree on political VIPs ‘is jeopardising visible policing and crime-fighting’

Trollip also asked Steenhuisen whether he made use of vehicles fitted with blue lights and/or other high-security transport measures and, if so, what the reasons for their use were.

Steenhuisen replied: “Yes, all the executive vehicles are fitted with blue lights and the appropriate signalling systems.

“Section 58(3) of the National Road Traffic Act (NRTA) makes provision for the utilisation of sirens and the appropriate lamp in vehicles by the person appointed under the South African Police Service Act in the execution of their duties…

“The VIP protection officers are appointed under the South African Police Service Act and execute their duties, which include but are not limited to the transportation of executives, with the official vehicles provided and fitted for the purpose.

“The guide for members of the executive as approved by the President, which is the current policy document under which executive vehicles are procured, came into effect on 13 April 2022.”



In response to questions from Daily Maverick, Steenhuisen’s spokesperson, Charity McCord, said all executive vehicles for DA Cabinet ministers were “inherited from the previous administration, and the acquisition of new vehicles has been strictly blocked by the DA ministers themselves.

“Similarly, while all inherited vehicles are equipped with blue lights, DA ministers have made it clear that the blue lights in their official vehicles will not be used under any circumstances. The DA believes that no minister has the privilege to travel by means of blue light convoys which disrupt traffic and grant ministers the unwarranted luxury to not plan their travel and appointments wisely.”

She added that DA ministers had instructed their VIP security “to abide by traffic laws at all times and not make use of blue lights for any and all ministerial travel”.

Read more: South Africans have guns pointed at their heads while politicians are given more VIP bodyguards

Correctional services minister and Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) leader Pieter Groenewald, however, told Daily Maverick that it was perfectly straightforward to request blue lights to be taken off ministerial vehicles.

“I don’t want even one blue light. My cars have no blue lights,” said Groenewald.

In 2010, the DA-run Western Cape scrapped blue lights from provincial ministerial vehicles “to set an example”. The blue lights and sirens were removed at a cost of R500 each and recycled for emergency vehicles, such as ambulances and police vehicles, said the then Western Cape minister of health, Theuns Botha in a statement.

According to McCord, Steenhuisen’s Audi was inherited from the former minister of agriculture Thoko Didiza, while his Toyota Prado was inherited from the former minister of agriculture Senzeni Zokwana.

Steenhuisen does not make use of the BMW X5, according to McCord.

‘Cost-saving mechanism’ 

In November 2024, a video on social media showed Steenhuisen getting into a Toyota Corolla Cross after a national executive meeting in Limpopo. Questioned about his choice of vehicle by the videographer, Steenhuisen responded that his ride was a “cost-saving mechanism”.

“More money to be spent on citizens and not politicians,” he added.

In a press statement on Tuesday, ActionSA MP Dereleen James said: “While Steenhuisen tried to project the image of travelling in a modest Toyota Cross, his own reply reveals that he actually enjoys the comfort of a fleet of three blue-light luxury SUVs.

“While certainly not unique to Steenhuisen, this is emblematic of the extravagant luxury afforded to ministers, where parking lots, such as those of Parliament, resemble luxury vehicle showrooms rather than institutions focused on prioritising the work of the people of South Africa.”

Read more: ‘Another slap in the face’ — cash-strapped City of Joburg splurges on bodyguards for bigwigs

McCord told Daily Maverick the Toyota Corolla Cross was a hired vehicle as executive vehicles were only provided in Pretoria and Cape Town.

“In this instance, the minister chose to hire a Corolla Cross to save money,” she said.

In response to ActionSA’s accusations, McCord said, “In their rush to play cheap politics, ActionSA have also exposed their own hypocrisy.” She said that when ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba was mayor of Johannesburg from 2016 to 2019, he “made use of a mayoral convoy of vehicles”.

While he was mayor of Johannesburg, Mashaba made use of two vehicles which were allocated to him by the city, including a BMW X5, according to an IOL report. DM