Speaker's Taj Hotel splurge defies Treasury

13 January 2015

Earlier this afternoon I received an SMS from Speaker Baleka Mbete's office inviting me and various MPs to "a planning workshop on The Legislature and the National Development Plan (NDP)" at the Taj Hotel in Cape Town at 08:30 tomorrow.

The Speaker unilaterally deciding to hold a parliamentary gathering during recess and only notify us via SMS within less than 24 hours of the meeting is yet another affront to due procedure and Parliament as an institution. It also demonstrates her complete disdain for opposition parties by giving minimal notice and justification for this workshop. 

Mbete's continued whimsical and at times chaotic approach to the administration of Parliament has compromised the institution's credibility, operations and ability to hold the executive to account.

Mbete should be prioritising the outstanding question sessions to the President and last year's unresolved business not, what will undoubtedly, be another bureaucrat breakfast on taxpayers' tab.

The Taj Hotel is arguably one of Cape Town's most lavish, with conference venues starting at R420 p/p. Parliament has plenty of suitable venues of its own that could have been used, even while in session. This workshop will cost South Africans thousands of rands in last-minute flights and accommodation.

I will submit parliamentary questions to determine the full expense behind the planned workshop.

The national fiscus faces massive pressure and a rising deficit. Parliament should be setting an example for the institutions that report to it, not splurging on superfluous luxuries.

If the Speaker has any respect for Treasury's calls to tighten our belts, she will postpone this workshop immediately. 

Statement issued by John Steenhuisen MP, Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, January 13 2015

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