Labour Minister spends R 350 000 on end-of-year function

A Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary question has revealed that the Department of Labour spent nearly R 350 000 on an end-of-year function for 150 department officials in December 2009. Guests from around the country were treated to return flights to Gauteng, hotel accommodation at an average cost of R 1400 per person and a party at the luxury Irene Country Lodge. Considering the current employment crisis - one million jobs lost between 2008 and 2009 - it is difficult to understand what the Department of Labour could have been celebrating.

A copy of the parliamentary reply is available upon request.

The party itself was a sumptuous affair. R 120 284 alone was spent on hiring the venue, described on its website as providing ‘exquisite culinary creations prepared by some of the country's finest chefs'. No expense was spared on food and beverages, which amounted to R 67 750. Guests were housed at a number of hotels in the area, including the Irene Country Lodge (in rooms decorated in the ‘English Country Manor style'), the Centurion Lake Hotel, the Protea Hotel Waterfront - Centurion, the Protea Hotel Waterfront - Centurion, the Premier Hotel in Pretoria and the Southern Sun Pretoria.

The cost of accommodation per person per night ranged from R 1042 to R 3148. The total hotel bill was R 59 804. Despite the fact that staff members of the Department of Labour had been in Gauteng only a week before, the department sought fit to fly 20 party-goers back to the province at a total cost of R 85 842. If the function had been rescheduled to coincide with the previous week's meeting, the Department could have saved this money and spent it on something constructive. The total bill for accommodation, flights, venue hire and catering came to R 342 772.

We have it on good authority that this party was the brainchild of Jimmy Manyi, Director General for the Department of Labour. It would thus be up to Mr Manyi to explain how the function could possibly have assisted the department carry out its duties.

This wanton spending by the Department of Labour on jet-set party-going displays a flagrant disregard for the plight of those who should be receiving its attention, the growing ranks of the unemployed. It also comes on the back of a host of new revelations of wasteful and fruitless spending, including:

• R 1.2 million spent on cars for ANC ministers, including a Mercedes Benz S350 costing R 746 276 for the Minister of Arts and Culture and a Chrysler 300C costing R 460 471 for the Minister of Public Works.
• R725 000 spent on a promotional documentary about President Zuma by the SABC. R 400 000 was spent on license fees and exploitation costs, R 310 000 on advertising and R 25 000 on a promo for potential advertisers.
• R 34 million spent of refurbishments to houses occupied by national Ministers and Deputy Ministers after the 2009 general elections. This includes R 33 million spent on residences in Pretoria and R 915 000 on residences in Cape Town.

The DA will continue to monitor and report instances of wasteful and fruitless spending on parties, hotel accommodation, luxury cars and travel for Ministers and add these to our Wasteful Expenditure Monitor, which now stands at R 1.1 billion. We urge President Zuma to take urgent steps to implement austerity measures, similar to those we, the DA, have adopted in the Western Cape, to limit the amounts spent on ministerial vehicles and direct these funds to projects that actually help the citizens of South Africa.

Statement issued by Ian Ollis, MP, Democratic Alliance deputy shadow minister of labour, May 17 2010

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