Minister's World Cup Romp: Joemat-Pettersson spent R15, 000 per night for month of football fun

The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, spent R420,000 of public money for 28 days of luxurious accommodation in Johannesburg during the 2010 World Cup. From 13 June 2010 until the final match on 11 July 2010, the Minister paid R15,000 per night for her "bed and meals" while on "official duties", according to the reply she gave to a DA parliamentary question last week. She claims to be interested in the needs of the poor, but it is hard to see how she could have been promoting their needs while spending so much of their money on her own personal World Cup holiday.

The Minister states that the department paid a company called Pure Toys One CC for her 28-night stay during the World Cup. According to the director of Pure Toys One - a property investment firm established to "re-rent" luxury apartments and guesthouses to tourists during the World Cup - the company had no contact with the Minister and never knew that she was staying at one of the guesthouses it was re-renting. The director said that the Minister would have booked her stay through one of the travel agencies hired by the company to handle these World Cup bookings.

Considering that the Minister racked up a bill of R15,000 per night, which far exceeds the nightly costs of virtually every other 5-star hotel in the city, it appears that the Minister paid for a World Cup "package" that included luxury accommodation, plus assorted other perks - perhaps even World Cup tickets. It is time for the Minister to reveal the full benefits of her R420,000 World Cup romp.

Today I will be submitting parliamentary questions to the Minister, seeking to ascertain:

• Which travel agent did she use to book this accommodation? 
• Was this payment of R15,000 per night just for accommodation, or did it form part of a package promotion? If yes, what other perks were included? Were World Cup tickets part of the package? 
• Did the Minister attend any of the Football World Cup matches? If so, which ones?
• Did family members stay with her in this accommodation during this time? 
• What Ministerial activities did she undertake during this time?

I have already written to the Public Protector to investigate the Minister for violating the Executive Ethics Act and the Constitution, similar to former Minister Sicelo Shiceka who was fired by the President for extravagant hotel stays. Minister Joemat-Pettersson has racked up almost R1,6 million in luxury hotel stays since taking office in May 2009. Now it is time for the Minister to answer not only for her reckless luxury hotel expenditure, but for her extravagant World Cup romp that cost the public R420,000.

Statement issued by Lourie Bosman MP, DA Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, November 2 2011

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