Pretoria - The country’s ministerial houses were not meant for ANC members only, but for all political parties.
Reacting after the DA picket yesterday against what it called “ANC rock star ANC ministers”, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Sihle Zikalala said even Western Cape Premier Alan Winde was staying in an official state residence.
“I don’t know what the DA is saying when they say ‘ANC ministers’. MPs come from different political parties and once Parliament is constituted, the president then appoints ministers. These are ministers for the whole country,” Zikalala said.
“The residences are not confined to a political party, but also for premiers. MPs reside in the parliamentary village when in Cape Town for work ...
“The principle that the DA should raise is whether it is correct to have ministerial houses or not. The houses are provided because most of the ministers are from different areas. It is not an issue of South Africa, but happens across the world.”
Zikalala said what government was looking at was to dispose of some of the houses and get smaller places, with security, and that an analysis was being conducted in this regard.
Yesterday, DA leader John Steenhuisen accused President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ministers and deputy ministers of having insulated themselves against load shedding while millions of South Africans live under constant blackout.
Steenhuisen was addressing scores of his party supporters outside the Bryntirion Ministerial Estate (the biggest South Africa) in Pretoria, which houses ministers and deputy ministers.
The DA was picketing outside the estate in Stanza Bopape, accusing the leaders of living in luxury while many people went to bed without a meal.
“These Cabinet cadres have even insulated themselves against the load shedding crisis they caused – all using taxpayer money.
“Ministers who have run this country into the ground are living in 97 mansions in Cape Town and Pretoria, worth nearly R1 billion. The 624 support staff they employ have cost taxpayers nearly R2bn over the past five years. This is in addition to the four free luxury vehicles, VIP protection, free water and electricity, and other expensive perks they receive.
“This is in stark contrast to the millions of South Africans who struggle every day to feed their children and keep their business doors open,” Steenhuisen said.
During the picket, DA spokesperson for public service and administration, Dr Leon Schreiber, singled out Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille for allegedly having wasted more than R2.4 million on international trips.
Schreiber made these comments based on a reply De Lille gave to Parliament on questions about her and a deputy public minister’s international trips while still Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure.
Based on the reply, Schreiber insisted that the official trips were unnecessary, saying: “While South Africans were stuck in the darkness of worsening load shedding engineered by De Lille and her ANC colleagues over the past three years, she was enjoying the bright lights of Dubai, the USA (twice), the UK (twice), Singapore, as well as Cuba and Egypt.
“Patricia de Lille travels in style at taxpayer expense. She spent over R1.6m on eight international – doubtless business class – return flights. During a jaunt to the UK in September last year, she incurred total costs of R478 000 in only five days.
“This included flight tickets costing South Africans an astronomical R326 000. Her accommodation for five nights in a luxury hotel added over R140 000 to the taxpayer bill. De Lille blew more on luxurious overseas travel in these five days than most South Africans will earn in five years.”
Schreiber added: “‘Six nights in Cuba’ would make a good movie title for the Hollywood lifestyle that ANC rock star Patricia de Lille enjoys. The only problem is that her hotel accommodation during six tropical Havana nights in April last year cost the people of South Africa over R122 000, with business class flights adding another R236 000 to the bill.”
He said the R2.4m spent by taxpayers on De Lille’s global jet-setting was made possible by Chapter 6 of the Ministerial Handbook, saying it was a document for which there appears to exist “no legal basis whatsoever” even though it costs South Africans billions every year.
Schreiber said the handbook stipulated that the president approves, in writing, all international travel for ministers and deputy ministers, making Ramaphosa personally responsible for this wastage.
“The handbook entitles rock star ministers and deputy ministers to travel overseas in business class and to take along an entourage that can include their spouse, bodyguards and support staff – with every cent footed by the people of South Africa.
“But it doesn’t end there; the handbook also grants ANC rock stars access to VIP lounges, directs them to stay in hotels which suit the status of members [of the executive], 5-star graded hotel or equivalent of a South African 5-star graded hotel, and grants them a generous subsistence allowance.”
He said the DA was leading the fight against this abuse of the people of South Africa by the ANC ministers and deputy ministers who “are destroying our country”.
“We have already laid a complaint with the Public Protector over the apparent fact that the handbook that feeds the cadres at the trough is illegal. We are also introducing the Cut Cabinet Perks Bill in Parliament to provide for full transparency and parliamentary oversight over this obscene waste of money.”
Pretoria News