First ever cuts to Ministerial Handbook perks after a decade of DA pressure. No more Porsche’s for Politicians!
31 October
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is pleased to note that, as a direct result of our ceaseless decade-long fight to cut wasteful expenditure on maintaining the luxury lifestyles of Cabinet members, the first-ever cuts to ministerial perks have taken place. Yesterday finance minister Tito Mboweni made some tentative first improvements to the Ministerial Handbook, which we welcome as a necessary cost saver - although it is still not quite enough.
The DA has been fighting since the Handbook was first launched in 2007 to slash wasteful spending of hard-earned taxpayer funds on luxury vehicles, business class travel, outrageous salaries, VIP security, and unnecessary international trips. We have long argued that ministers should be seen as humble public servants, rather than flashy political celebrities living the high life at taxpayer expense.
Being a minister is not an award for long-service, it is a critical role serving the people by steering South Africa through turbulent times.
Although it took a decade, it appears that Minister Mboweni has finally started to agree with us. But this only happened after the DA put up a sustained fight against any attempt to hoodwink the people of South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa initially introduced a new Ministerial Handbook on 8 June 2019. Despite his promises that the Handbook would cut back significantly on wastage, this initial version contained even more freebies for Cabinet fat cats. It is only after the DA raised the alarm that the government admitted that this “old-new” Handbook was a complete farce.