AG must investigate Lulu Xingwana's R2.1 million expenditure on furniture
Reports today reveal that Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana, spent R2.1 million redecorating her department's head office with designer furniture. Nearly half of that amount was spent on her own office (see Sunday Independent report).
The DA will be calling for the Auditor-General to investigate this latest report of extravagant and wasteful expenditure by the Department under Minister Xingwana's watch.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the protection of women and children is very low on the Minister's list of priorities. Overseas trips, designer furniture and the services of private lawyers to assist in axing members of her staff all seem to be higher on the Minister's agenda than actually fulfilling the mandate of her department.
Examples of her skewed priorities include:
- Allocating R25 million of her Department's 2012/2013 budget to travel and subsistence, while just R13.5 million went to its "Children's Rights and Responsibilities" programme, and R15.4 million to its "Rights of People with Disabilities" programme;
- 66% under-spending in the "Rights of People with Disabilities" programme;
- overspending of 112% on employees' salaries; while the 2012/2013 budget for salaries already represented more than a third of the department's budget; and
- contracting the services of a private labour law firm instead of the State Attorney, whose office she apparently does not trust, to assist her in terminating the employment of staff members.