Strange how we strip ourselves upon hearing government ministers get free lights and water, yet by comparison seem to almost tolerate long-standing endemic corruption and dysfunction. Perhaps it was the final straw when we finally realised how insulated and uncaring those who have grown fat on our hard-earned money have become. Here’s my favourite illustrative line by Ramaphosa’s spokesman when he tries to defend what amounts to a token response to this freebie outrage. Explaining that ministers “inherit” two official residences, which they must then maintain, in addition to their private homes, he said; “You have a scenario where you have costs for three homes.” Shame. So instead of developing compassion for the poor, destitute and the growing jobless army, we must spare a thought for the billionaires and overpaid ministers who endure a clutch of homes? While maintenance and repair, made worse by power and water outages, are a given for them and everyone else? And they call themselves socialists? Nee wat, nkeke, aybo, se-kwenele! (dis nou genoeg!). Article republished courtesy of MyBroadband.– Chris Bateman
Ramaphosa scraps unlimited free electricity and water for ministers — but they still get R5,000 per month
President Cyril Ramaphosa has withdrawn an amendment to the Executive Members Guide that gave cabinet ministers and their deputies free utilities to their official residences.
The changes came into effect on 13 April 2022 and made the Department of Public Works responsible for covering all costs associated with providing water and electricity to official residences.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, announced the withdrawal of the controversial amendment at a media briefing on Monday. “President Ramaphosa acknowledges and appreciates the public sentiments on the matter. However, the impression created that the amendments were conducted in secrecy and to avoid public scrutiny is false,” Magwenya stated. “The withdrawal will give effect to the 2019 version of the Executive Guide, pending a review.”
Under the 2019 Executive Members Guide, also known as the Ministerial Handbook, ministers’ utility bills at their official residences are still covered by up to R5,000 per month.
Ramaphosa’s cabinet has 28 ministers and 34 deputies.
Ministers earn up to R2.4 million per year, while deputies can make R2 million annually.
In South Africa’s previous financial year, the country spent R1.3 million to provide cabinet members with generators, with an additional R680,000 spent between April and June 2022. The ministers and deputies were provided generators despite their official residences in the Bryntirion Estate in Pretoria not experiencing load shedding.
Aside from the utility bills, the Democratic Alliance has said Ramaphosa made several other extra allowances for ministerial staff that would cost taxpayers R87 million per year.
These are summarised in the table below:
Asked why the president had not foreseen the outcry, Magwenya said the amendments were not made with ill intent. “I suppose, with hindsight, we can say the intention behind the amendment was not a nefarious one,” stated Magwenya. “The intention was to try and find some form of balance between what ministers could afford to pay versus some of the costs they have.”
Magwenya explained that ministers “inherit” two official residences, which they must then maintain in addition to their private homes. “You have a scenario where you have costs for three homes,” he said.
“Be that as it may, we can no longer further debate that outcry and the merits of that outcry except to say, let’s accept what the public has given us as a message and let’s conduct a necessary review that will ensure the next version of the guide is aligned not only to the public’s expectations, but with the realities that many South Africans face.”
In a famous victory for the people, DA forces Ramaphosa to withdraw Ministerial Handbook
By Dr Leon Schreiber MP*
In a famous victory against ANC cadre corruption and for the people of South Africa, the DA has won our battle to force President Cyril Ramaphosa to withdraw amendments he secretly made to the Ministerial Handbook back in April. It was the DA that exposed these changes over the past two weeks, whereby Ramaphosa planned to force taxpayers to pay for unlimited amounts of free water and electricity for the same ANC ministers and deputy ministers who robbed our country of these services. The DA also exposed that the new Handbook would have nearly doubled the number of ANC cadres employed in ministerial offices, which would cost the public at least R87 million more every year.
After exposing Ramaphosa’s secret perks for Cabinet cadres, the DA this morning held a press conference where we presented the President with a direct ultimatum: scrap the Handbook, or the DA would mobilise society to protest at Bryntirion Estate, which is home to the presidential residence and dozens of ministerial mansions. A few hours later, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, announced that the President had acceded to the DA’s demands by withdrawing the Handbook.
The DA will however persist in our efforts to completely reform the Ministerial Handbook system, which currently gives the President dictatorial powers to force taxpayers to pay for ministerial perks, without even having to inform Parliament or the public. This means that Ramaphosa is entirely at liberty to reintroduce the perks he has just withdrawn at any moment, without any parliamentary oversight.
This is absolutely unacceptable and presents a danger to our constitutional democracy, which is why the DA will continue to pursue the complaint we lodged with the Public Protector last week. Instead of Ramaphosa having dictatorial powers to dish out patronage to his Cabinet colleagues, it must be Parliament, through an open, transparent and participatory process, that decides on any limited Cabinet benefits that may be appropriate in particular cases. We hope that the Public Protector will agree with us on this.
Yet even as the DA continues to wage our war against ANC cadre deployment corruption, including in the form of the Ministerial Handbook, it is important to recognise the progress we are making. It is the DA that exposed the ANC cadre deployment minutes to the people of South Africa, just like it was the DA that exposed the Ministerial Handbook to the people. It is the DA that is challenging ANC cadre deployment corruption in court, and it is the DA that has defeated Ramaphosa’s secret and sinister plan for more perks for Cabinet cadres.
The truth is that, were it not for the DA, Ramaphosa and the ANC would have gotten away with their amendments to the Handout Handbook without anyone even knowing about it. Today’s victory is nothing less than incontrovertible proof that it is only the DA that can undo the untold damage that ANC corruption has done to our country.
As the 2024 election draws near, voters should ask themselves: if the DA can undo and prevent ANC corruption without even being in power nationally yet, just imagine how much we can achieve to fix South Africa with a DA government in the Union Buildings?
- Dr Leon Schreiber MP – DA Shadow Minister for Public Service and Administration.
Read also:
- Price of electricity in SA compared with the rest of the continent – it’s a cheap affair
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