Written responses to the DA’s Parliamentary questions revealed that a rather large fleet of new vehicles were bought by ministers over the last three years.
This is remarkable because the Ministerial Handbook gives an allowance of up to R700 000 for Cabinet members to spend on a car of their choice but the government has said that actual limit is R800 000.
Fikile Mbalula (BMW 5 series), Joe Phaahla (Audi Q5), and Pravin Gordhan (Audi A6) all find themselves in the grey area, spending between R700 000 – R800 000. However, the same room for doubt cannot be afforded to the COGTA Minister – as Dlamini-Zuma spent over R806 000 on a Volvo XC60 with the purchase date only days before SA entered lockdown for the first time.
“Since 2019, taxpayers bought 24 new vehicles for Ministers and Deputy Ministers, at a total cost of almost R19 million. The average cost for the 24 vehicles purchased was R789 736 – well in excess of the limit supposedly established by the Ministerial Handbook. Ministers and former Ministers. Up to eleven vehicles were potentially purchased in contravention of the R700 000 limit by senior members of the Poverty Cabinet, including Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma – who spent R806 000 on a luxury car,” the DA said in a statement.
Sources: Economy24, MSN
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