Ramaphosa’s feuding four Ministers of ANC loadshedding to cost taxpayers R145 million per year
20 February 2023
During his reply to the debate on his State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Cyril Ramaphosa doubled down on his ill-advised decision to appoint yet another minister to his bloated Cabinet under the guise of dealing with the electricity crisis that his Cabinet created. Following the declaration of a National State of Disaster (NSOD), this means that responsibility for dealing with the crisis has now been fragmented across no less than four ministries: Minerals and Energy (Gwede Mantashe), Public Enterprises (Pravin Gordhan), Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma) and the yet-to-be-appointed Minister of Electricity.
What Ramaphosa failed to tell the people of South Africa during this reply to SONA is that the duplication of responsibilities among the Feuding Four ministers will cost citizens over R145 million every year. In terms of the Ministerial Handbook, the legality of which the DA is challenging through a complaint to the Public Protector, each of these ministers are entitled to dozens of staff members, luxury vehicles, VIP protection, and free water and electricity.
Based on the Handbook and a series of parliamentary questions, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has calculated that South Africans will be spending over R145 million per year on these luxuries for the Feuding Four ministers while loadshedding worsens and they conduct their political turf war for control over Eskom.
Cost of the Feuding Four Ministers