{"id":654217,"date":"2026-06-15T16:53:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T14:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=654217"},"modified":"2026-06-15T20:20:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T18:20:28","slug":"crime-in-south-africa-is-so-out-of-control-vodacom-spent-r7-7-million-to-keep-its-ceo-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/654217-crime-in-south-africa-is-so-out-of-control-vodacom-spent-r7-7-million-to-keep-its-ceo-safe.html","title":{"rendered":"Vodacom spent R7.7 million to keep its CEO safe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vodacom revealed in its recently published annual financial statements that it spent around R7.7 million on CEO Shameel Joosub\u2019s personal security detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was thanks to a ruling by the South African Revenue Service, which compelled the mobile operator to disclose the expense as a fringe benefit for tax purposes and restate his 2025 remuneration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That meant Joosub also had to pay income tax on the amount at the 45% marginal tax rate. The restated figures revealed that his tax bill was R3.3 million higher in 2025 than initially reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The details about Joosub\u2019s personal security were contained in a footnote of the notes to the consolidated and separate financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe expense allowance for 2025 has been updated to now also include personal security benefits in accordance with a tax ruling that was received during the current financial year,\u201d Vodacom stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vodacom restated Joosub\u2019s 2025 expense allowances from R19,800 to R7,316,723, providing a clear indication of the extent to which his personal security benefits contributed to the total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2026, his expense allowances were R7,742,922. However, in 2025, it included mobile phone benefits and long service awards. This year, it included vehicle depreciation but excluded long service awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spending millions on Joosub\u2019s security is not surprising. He is one of South Africa\u2019s highest-profile chief executives and a core business leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has been at the helm of Vodacom for 14 years and is an integral part of the company\u2019s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa has seen a surge in targeted kidnappings for ransom, increasingly focusing on high-net-worth individuals and top-tier corporate executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joosub falls squarely in the category of people and their families who may be targeted, requiring comprehensive protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telecommunications operators are also targeted by crime syndicates involved in cell tower battery theft and cable theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the face of the company executing countermeasures against these syndicates, a CEO can become a target for retaliatory threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading a high-profile company like Vodacom also exposes Joosub to public and legal hostility, which has the potential of spilling over into violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Threats outside South Africa add to the cost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vodacom Group is one of Africa\u2019s biggest telecommunications, digital technology, and financial services companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company has evolved from a South African mobile provider to a large pan-African telecommunications and fintech giant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across its African footprint, Vodacom serves 237 million customers, and its networks reach a population of roughly 600 million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To run such a large company requires special skills and experience, and Joosub, who has been with Vodacom since 1994, is a perfect fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also expected that a company will need to remunerate such a person well, given the hard work expected of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last financial year, Joosub\u2019s total pay package was R137 million. This was a significant increase over the R78 million in the 2025 financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from running Vodacom, Joosub serves on the boards of Safaricom and Vodafone Egypt, as well as on subsidiary boards across the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also sits on the board of Business Leadership South Africa and was appointed to the Vodafone Group Exco in April 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ensuring his and his family\u2019s safety is therefore important to both Vodacom and the African business sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not only local security which is a priority. Vodacom operates in numerous African countries, including the DRC, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Egypt, and Ethiopia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When travelling abroad, high-ranking telecommunications executives are high-value targets for both state-sponsored actors and criminal syndicates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreign countries reduce the effectiveness of standard, home-based security personnel and the systems they use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ensuring seamless, vetted transitions from secure airport tarmac zones to localised close-protection teams is necessary to mitigate crime, tracking, or ambushes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This meant Joosub\u2019s international travel, especially to countries like the DRC and Mozambique, carries significant risks, and it can be costly to ensure his personal safety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vodacom indirectly revealed that it spent around R7.7 million on CEO Shameel Joosub’s personal security detail, which he had to pay tax on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":646801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1958,41],"class_list":["post-654217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-shameel-joosub","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654217"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654217"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654290,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654217\/revisions\/654290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}