In the Extreme too? Public Protector must investigate Joemat-Pettersson
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be writing to the Public Protector today to request that she investigate the wasteful hotel expenditure by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tina Joemat-Pettersson.
In reply to a DA parliamentary question yesterday, it was revealed that the Minister has spent more than R1,5 million on hotel stays since taking office in 2009. The DA believes this constitutes a flagrant abuse of public funds, a violation of the Executive Ethics Act and a breach of her Constitutional responsibilities.
The Public Protector has set a powerful precedent by finding the former Minister of Co-operative Governance, Sicelo Shiceka, guilty of misusing public funds for luxury hotel stays. That precedent applies to this case as well.
In the Public Protector's report on Shiceka, entitled In the Extreme, she stated:
"By staying in one of the most expensive hotels during his official visits to Cape Town, repeatedly, before and after an official residence was allocated to him, and without requesting his Private Office to take steps to ensure that the expenditure incurred by the Department is reasonable and justifiable in terms of his responsibility to act in good faith and with integrity, Mr. Shiceka violated the provisions of paragraph 2.3 of the Executive Ethics Code and section 96(2) of the Constitution."
Minister Joemat-Pettersson's appears to be guilty of violating precisely the same rules. Her continued stays at some of the most expensive hotels in South Africa, without regard for the public's money, shows a similar level of disinterest in carrying out her duties in good faith and integrity. They were neither reasonable nor justifiable.
The Minister claims she spent so much money on hotels because she did not have an official ministerial residence when she took office. For the first 10 months of her tenure, she stayed at 4- and 5-Star hotels virtually every single night, at great expense. She could have chosen to act in the public interest by simply renting houses in Pretoria and Cape Town - for, say, R15,000 per month each - while her ministerial residences were being procured. By doing so, she would have saved South Africans R600,000. But instead of spending R300,000 in rent over those 10 months, she spent R900,000 at the fanciest of hotels.
The Minister is also rivals Shiceka for the sheer amount of money spent. Shiceka spent R226,276 at the One & Only Hotel in Cape Town, but Joemat-Petersson spent R290,000 for a month's stay at the 5-Star Peermont D'Oreale Grande Emperors Palace in Johannesburg, then R420,000 for another month-long stay at another Johannesburg establishment in 2010. This was after the completion of refurbishments to her ministerial residence.
Ministers who engage in this kind of reckless abuse of public funds for private enjoyment must be held accountable. This week we saw the President act on the Public Protector's recommendations to "take serious action" against former Minister Shiceka for violating the Executive Ethics Code and the Constitution. Minister Joemat-Pettersson appears to have violated the same laws and must be held accountable. I will write to the Public Protector to request that she investigate this matter fully.
Statement issued by Lourie Bosman MP, DA Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, October 25 2011
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