Ministerial Car Rentals: Minister Mbalula's R1 375 for 1km

The Minister of Sport and Recreation, Fikile Mbalula, spent R1 375 for the use of a rental car to travel only 1 kilometre, a new reply to a DA parliamentary question has revealed. 

This follows information revealed by the DA yesterday that the Minister of Arts and Culture, Paul Mashatile, spent R3 125 to hire a car which was only driven for 1 kilometre. 

Since 2012, Minister Mbalula and his Deputy Minister, Gert Oosthuizen, have spent more than R69 000 on rental cars to travel more than 6 500 kilometres. 

This brings the total spent by Cabinet Ministers since 2012 on rental cars to R5.2 million.

Minister Mbalula has clearly not changed his ‘razzmatazz' ways. He spent more than R37 million for travel and subsistence during the 2011/12 financial year and is being investigated by the Public Protector for fruitless and wasteful expenditure after it emerged that he and his Deputy spent more than R2.6 million on international and domestic flights between 2010 and 2012.

The DA has written to the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Lindiwe Sisulu, requesting her to enforce President Zuma's promise of a revised Ministerial Handbook to curb the excessive spending of the executive. 

The DA will also now ask that the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) investigate the high expenditure on rental cars by Ministers, which is clearly being abused.

It is high time that these Ministers' disregard for public funds is brought to a halt. 

Where the DA governs, we respect the fact that the public's money should be put to the best possible use. The DA would do the same for all South Africans where we are elected to govern in 2014.

Statement issued by Ian Ollis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Transport, October 2 2013

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