The party said this week that 18 ANC ministers, deputy ministers, and their departments have allegedly spent more than R1.4 billion on food, entertainment, and lodging since President Cyril Ramaphosa took office on May 19, 2019. In Leon Schreiber's words, he says that he got the information through parliamentary questions.
People spent most of the last three years in lockdown. Schreiber said the ANC national government spent at least R1.2 billion on accommodation, R157 million on catering, and $12 million on entertainment for ministers, deputy ministers, and other people who work for national government departments.
The leader of the ANC said that "millions of South Africans go to bed hungry, but ANC cadres kept partying on taxpayer money during lockdown." Ministers are said to have spent a lot of money on food, entertainment, and lodging.
Spenders who spend the most
Lindiwe Sisulu's departments of human settlements and water and sanitation cost R252m, Angie Motshekga's department of basic education cost R149m, Aaron Motsoaledi and Barbara Creecy's departments of forestry, fisheries, and the environment cost R137m, and Naledi Pandor's department of international relations and co-operation cost R127m, according to a report by the South African government.
During their time as a minister, what other people spent
Higher education, science, and innovation: R74m; health: R67m; mineral resources and energy and energy: R55m; transport: R34m; public service and administration: R26m; public works and infrastructure: R21m; Stella Ndabeni-department Abraham's of public works and infrastructure: R21m; public service and administration: R26m; public works and infrastructure: R21m; Stella Ndabeni-department Abraham's of public works and infrastructure: R21m
The department hit back at the DA, saying that it was working and not having fun with taxpayer money, and that it was not going to do that. Chrispin Phiri, a spokesperson for the DA, said the group was trying to stir up a political storm. This is a good way to say that spending money while doing a job is like going on a spending spree. People use this as propaganda to show the government of the day in a way that fits their political goals, Phiri said.
He said that in the case of the justice department, the money spent covers the costs of magistrates. "Catering expenditure is defined by financial prescripts as spending on people who work for or are hired by a department or a division of a department, as well as spending on people who work for or are hired by a department or a division of a department that is directly related to the department's or division's goals," said Phiri.
Entertainment expenditure is the money spent by people in the senior management service and by ministers, deputy ministers, and their office bearers while they do their jobs. Accommodation costs are the reasonable costs of staying somewhere when an employee has to go on a business trip. There are many ways to spend money for official duties that are in line with the department's activities and goals.
He said the department went to "great lengths" to make sure courts were open during the Covid-19 lockdown and that the money spent on hotel rooms for officials and magistrates who travel for work was justified. Do they think it was possible without having to pay for it? To say that this is "partying" is a good political move. According to him, if the department underspent its budget, the DA would have no choice but to say that it didn't do its job well.
His department welcomes efforts by lawmakers to check on the executive, but information should not be used to "manipulate" the public, he said. That's what Lamola said: "We need to use this information to help people understand what's going on." This is why we have the office of the auditor-general and groups like the Select Committee on Public Accounts that look into how government money is spent. When someone spends money that can't be explained or is found to be pointless and wasteful, the proper consequences management and disciplinary processes are used.
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