Over R100 million to be spent on Ministerial mansions in two years

5 April 2013

In a reply to a DA parliamentary question, the Minister of Public Works has revealed that the Department has budgeted R43 million for renovations and improvements on ministerial mansions in the 2012/13 financial year.

In the 2011/12 year, R65 million had already been spent on upgrading ministerial mansions. This brings the total amount budgeted for upgrading ministerial mansions to approximately R108 million in the space of two financial years.

Earlier this year, a parliamentary reply revealed the exorbitant costs being spent on some upgrades to ministerial mansions. This included:

• just under R5 million was spent on upgrades to a home for Agriculture Minister, Tina Joemat-Pettersson;
• R10.67 million was spend on the overhaul of a house earmarked for use by deputy Transport Minister Lydia Chikunga; and 
• R15 million was spent on a house in Cape Town for Rural Development Minister Gugile Nkwinti.

It is time for Parliament to have a detailed briefing on exactly what these millions, if not billions, of rands of public money is being spent on. I will be submitting Parliamentary questions to ascertain what these upgrades entail and why they were deemed necessary.

I will also be writing to the Public Works Committee Chairperson to request that the Minister give a comprehensive briefing to the committee, including the progress of the SIU investigations into alleged corruption within the Department regarding expenditure on ministerial mansions.

In the DA governed City of Cape Town, Mayor Patricia De Lille has cut down on spending on unnecessary bells and whistles. We challenge national government to do the same.

The Department of Public Works must explain why they continue to spend on luxuries for ministers, while thousands of citizens are on waiting lists for houses, police are living in unhygienic and unsafe barracks and many poor people still suffer the indignity of open toilets. The public is sick and tired of funding endless renovations of Ministerial houses while ordinary people are struggling to make ends meet.

Money received from the public must be directed towards service delivery and not sustaining Ministers' bling-bling lifestyles.

Statement issued by Anchen Dreyer MP, DA Shadow Minister of Public Works, April 5 2013

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