Durban – Calls are growing for Parliament to be in charge of oversight of the Ministerial Handbook after “secret changes” were made, meaning taxpayers must pay for all the power and water bills for ministers and their deputies at official residences.
This week it emerged that President Cyril Ramaphosa had made changes to the handbook which had removed the R5 000 cap on utilities for members of the executive.
Civil society and opposition parties have slammed the move, saying millions of South Africans struggle to eke out a living while ministers earn in excess of R2 million a year.
The Office of the Public Protector has been asked to investigate the legality of such an amendment, although her office has yet to confirm receipt of the complaint.
But Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele has defended the removal of the cap, saying ministers should not be inconvenienced by having to pay for their own utilities.
In an interview, Gungubele said ministers were employed to work for government and the nature of their jobs, which he said is “24/7”, puts them between Cape Town and Pretoria.
Build One South Africa (Bosa) leader Mmusi Maimane said ministers were no longer connected to communities.
“There is an absence of values and a disconnect with the lived realities of people in the country.
“Equally, there are mayors who arrive in the fanciest German vehicles to talk to communities where there has not been any water.”
Maimane said the office of executive ethics in the Office of the Presidency was set up to monitor if perks were being abused.
“Being a minister comes with privileges, as in other countries, but there must be a value system and it must be policed.”
Political analyst Dr John Molepo, of the University of Mpumalanga, said the country had a bloated Cabinet and this is where the problem emanated from.
“If I were the president I would have cut Cabinet … if the government did this it would gain the confidence of the country’s citizens.
“Ministers and Cabinet benefit themselves instead of broader society. This will have dire effects on how the ANC performs at the 2024 elections,” said Molepo.
“This is something that as a society we need to look into because citizens are losing trust in their leaders.
“Those approving this increase in perks … their critical and moral standing should tell them that this is too much.”
Molepo said South Africa should look at countries like China and compare executive perks.
The DA’s Leon Schreiber said the party had submitted a formal complaint to the public protector after they had done research and found no legal precedent for the perks to be amended and in a confidential manner.
“There is nothing in the Constitution, nothing in the PFMA (Public Finance Management Act), Executive Ethics code or any other legislation that empowers the president to decide that taxpayers have to pay more (for the executive) without consulting Parliament.
“Parliament should decide in an open and transparent manner which tools are required by ministers,” Schreiber said.
