DA says R93 million spent on maintaining the 97 mansions

According to the Democratic Alliance (DA), parliamentary questions have revealed that over a period of two years the government spent R93 million on maintaining the 97 mansions, valued at nearly R1 billion, occupied by its ministers and deputy ministers in Pretoria and Cape Town.

The DA’s Leon Schreiber says that the party will be submitting a complaint to the public protector to investigate what appears to be brazen corruption and tender inflation in the maintenance of ministerial mansions.

“This means that the government spent an average of nearly R1 million on each mansion in just two years. The expenses incurred were for renovations, repairs, municipal rates and services, including free water and electricity. Many of the expenses bear tell-tale signs of massive tender corruption. At one house in Cape Town, the kitchen was renovated at a cost of over R1.4 million,“ said Schreiber.

He said the state has paid over R240 000 to fumigate cockroaches, charged through three different invoices. “The replacement of a fallen curtain rail at a house in Johann Rissik Drive in Waterkloof Ridge cost R54 000. And the replacement of light bulbs at a ministerial mansion located in Clark Street in Waterkloof cost over R19 000,” he said.

The information obtained by the DA shows that over the past two years the government used taxpayers’ money to “refill diesel generators,” “service generators,” or “repair generators” at ministerial homes at least 297 different times. “These expenses also have clear marks of possible corruption, with the state routinely spending over R25 000 to ‘refill’ a generator.

“One of the biggest components of the R50 million spent on maintenance at ministerial mansions in Pretoria and Cape Town was to make sure that ANC cadres were protected from load shedding,” he said.

Schreiber said that the remainder of over R43 million was spent on paying for property rates, refuse removal, water and electricity at the 97 mansions. “The DA is reporting these severely inflated expenses to the public protector. It appears that ANC cadres are even using the luxury mansions where they live like rock stars to commit tender corruption.

“We have also already tabled the Cut Cabinet Perks Bill in Parliament, which will bring transparency and oversight to the process of including benefits in the Ministerial Handbook. These perks cost South Africans over R1 billion a year. Our country simply cannot afford to keep paying for the luxury lifestyles of ministers who live like rock stars while load shedding, unemployment and poverty are at crisis levels,” he said.