By Themba wa Sepotokele and Anna Cox
The Johannesburg metro police department maintains law and order on the city's roads, and for a price, adds a touch of pomp to ordinary people's special occasions.
On Saturday no fewer than six police cruisers will be escorting prominent Soweto businesswoman Happy Khumalo's wedding entourage all the way on its trip to Hartbeespoort Dam.
The department provides escorts for funerals, visiting dignitaries and politicians, but Saturday
is the first time it will accede to a request for a wedding party escort.
Six police special-events unit members driving BMWs will escort Khumalo, her family and guests for her wedding party to Pecanwood Golf Estate at Hartbeespoort Dam - for a fee. She had requested an escort from her home in Rockville, Soweto, to the dam, according to police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar.
Khumalo, who owns a catering company and an events management company, said she would tie the knot in Rustenburg with her fiance and business partner, Armie Ngidi, of Umlazi in KwaZulu-Natal.
Minnaar said the bride had agreed to fork out R75 an hour for each officer and R70 an hour for each vehicle. The superintendent leading the entourage would cost R90 an hour.
"Since we have established the special-events unit within the department, we are receiving hundreds of requests for escorts for a variety of events. This is, however, the first time that we received and accepted such a request (for a wedding)," Minnaar said.
Some of the department's officers have expressed anger at being made to perform weekend duties for a wedding.