Amid reports of children dying from starvation in the Eastern Cape, and with large parts of KwaZulu-Natal without food or water following the failure by the ANC to put adequate disaster relief plans in place, the DA today reveals that 18 ANC Ministers, Deputy Ministers and their departments spent over R1.4 billion on catering, entertainment and accommodation since President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government took office on 19 May 2019.
While millions of South Africans go to bed hungry, ANC cadres kept on partying on taxpayer money all throughout lockdown.
New information obtained by the DA through a series of parliamentary questions reveals that during the past three years – which ordinary citizens mostly spent under lockdown – the ANC national government spent at least R1.2 billion in public money on accommodation, another R157 million on catering, as well as R12 million on entertainment for Ministers, Deputy Ministers and other cadres employed by national government departments.
To put the total amount wasted on parties, dinners and hotels – over R1.4 billion – into perspective: this amount would have been enough to provide school meals to over 250 000 needy children for the entire duration of their 12-year school career.
The biggest spenders
The DA’s questions sought to establish how much each Minister, Deputy Minister and Department had spent on accommodation, catering and entertainment during the last three years of unprecedented hardship for most South Africans. The results revealed that the following ministers and departments lived it up the most during lockdown:
- Ronald Lamola’s department of justice and correctional services
Amount spent on catering, entertainment and accommodation: R293 million
This department – which has overseen the collapse of the National Prosecuting Authority and was exposed as the posterchild for BOSASA corruption by the State Capture Commission – accounts for nearly a quarter of all taxpayer money wasted on luxuries over the past three years. The department spent an eye-watering R285 million on accommodation during a period when most South Africans were locked down and not allowed to travel.
- Lindiwe Sisulu’s former departments of human settlements, water and sanitation
Amount spent on catering, entertainment and accommodation: R252 million
As we’ve come to expect, one of the biggest spenders of all was South Africa’s own Marie Antoinette, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. Over the past three years, the departments of human settlements and water and sanitation – which she oversaw for most of that period – blew a combined R252 million. This included over R200 million for accommodation and over R50 million for catering.
- Angie Motshekga’s department of basic education
Amount spent on catering, entertainment and accommodation: R149 million
In third place is the basic education department, which did not limit itself to South African destinations in spending nearly R120 million on accommodation. Minister Angie Motshekga, her deputy and officials altogether spent an additional R6 million on foreign accommodation.
- Aaron Motsoaledi’s department of home affairs
Amount spent on catering, entertainment and accommodation: R149 million
With South Africa’s home affairs and immigration systems having effectively ground to a complete halt during lockdown, Motsoaledi and his department spent the past three years racking up the third highest bill for catering, entertainment and accommodation. Instead of spending these scarce resources on reducing the never-ending queues at Home Affairs and speedily processing immigration applications to reduce the scope for populists like Herman Mashaba to fan the flames of xenophobia, Motsoaledi and his fellow cadres in the department instead sipped drinks at hotels on taxpayer dime.
- Barbara Creecy’s department of forestry, fisheries and the environment
Amount spent on catering, entertainment and accommodation: R137 million
In fourth place is the department that has failed to do its job by allocating fishing rights permits to many traditional fishing communities. While many fishers struggle to put food on the table for their families due to Creecy’s department’s negligence and incompetence, ANC cadres spent over R11 million on catering and R126 million on accommodation.
- Naledi Pandor’s department of international relations and cooperation
Amount spent on catering, entertainment and accommodation: R127 million
Next comes Naledi Pandor’s department, which not only failed morally when it disgracefully sided with Vladimir Putin’s regime, but also directly imperilled South Africa’s economic relationship with our biggest trading partners in Europe and the United States by refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But Pandor and her fellow cadres are apparently blissfully unaware of the rapidly declining state of the economy, as they spent nearly R10 million on entertainment, R7 million for catering and R110 million for accommodation – most likely including parties celebrating the Russian army.
- Blade Nzimande’s department of higher education, science and innovation
Amount spent on catering, entertainment and accommodation: R74 million
When Nzimande and his departmental cadres aren’t busy collapsing NSFAS and trying to classify Afrikaans as well as Khoi and San languages as “foreign,” they can be found lazing about the hotel pool to the tune of R54 million. Destroying our higher education system is apparently also hungry work, as Nzimande and his department spent a combined R17 million on catering.
- Zweli Mkhize’s health department
Amount spent on catering, entertainment and accommodation: R67 million
In addition to the role he played in the corrupt Digital Vibes contract, disgraced former health minister Zweli Mkhize – who was in charge of the health department during most of the lockdown – also oversaw wastage of R59 million on accommodation and over R8 million on catering while other South Africans were locked down.
- Gwede Mantashe’s department of mineral resources and energy
Amount spent on catering, entertainment and accommodation: R55 million
While continuing to subject South Africans to worsening bouts of electricity blackouts through his refusal to allow the rapid procurement of additional generation capacity, Gwede Mantashe and his fellow cadres could probably rely on generators during their numerous stays at hotels during the lockdown years – which cost taxpayers over R53 million.
Rounding out this dishonourable list is Fikile Mbalula’s transport department (R34 million), Ayanda Dlodlo’s public service and administration department (R26 million), Patrica de Lille’s public works and infrastructure department (R22 million), and Stella Ndabeni-Abraham’s small business department (R12 million).
| Department | Catering | Entertainment | Accommodation | TOTAL |
| Basic Education | R29 794 610,20 | R196 667,22 | R119 866 182,00 | R149 857 459,42 |
| Finance | R1 901 521,93 | R85 174,55 | R9 757 900,19 | R11 744 596,67 |
| Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment | R11 139 328,75 | R27 117,95 | R126 661 271,12 | R137 827 717,82 |
| International Relations and Cooperation | R7 686 544,39 | R9 608 620,06 | R110 296 510,47 | R127 591 674,92 |
| Human Settlements | R47 306 107,81 | R166 708,04 | R33 931 193,12 | R81 404 008,97 |
| Justice and Correctional Services | R8 190 700,11 | R9 731,70 | R285 257 912,71 | R293 458 344,52 |
| Mineral Resources and Energy | R1 796 721,43 | R888,90 | R53 463 221,09 | R55 260 831,42 |
| Public Service and Administration | R4 788 000,00 | R4 000,00 | R21 274 000,00 | R26 066 000,00 |
| Trade, Industry and Competition | R76 162,00 | R10 556,00 | R0,00 | R86 718,00 |
| Transport | R5 391 597,00 | R426 872,00 | R28 503 395,00 | R34 321 864,00 |
| Public Enterprises | R238 155,20 | R949,00 | R4 895 479,83 | R5 134 584,03 |
| Home Affairs | R3 131 959,00 | R335 889,00 | R145 630 915,00 | R149 098 763,00 |
| Water and Sanitation | R4 491 000,00 | R470 000,00 | R166 484 000,00 | R171 445 000,00 |
| Small Business Development | R1 103 063,54 | R1 339,60 | R11 224 491,03 | R12 328 894,17 |
| Higher Education, Science and Innovation | R17 242 779,46 | R284 868,22 | R57 175 314,77 | R74 702 962,45 |
| Health | R8 075 000,00 | R8 000,00 | R59 289 000,00 | R67 372 000,00 |
| Public Works and Infrastructure | R5 070 900,89 | R224 117,00 | R16 319 208,10 | R21 614 225,99 |
| Women, Youth and People with Disabilities | R78 629,45 | R0,00 | R1 333 613,15 | R1 412 242,60 |
| TOTAL | R157 502 781,16 | R11 861 499,24 | R1 251 363 607,58 | R1 420 727 887,98 |
| Sports, Arts and Culture | Refused to answer |
