[ID] POLICE MINISTER NATHI MTHETHWA SAVED BY THE "SKIN OF HIS TEETH"

The Independent Democrats (ID) Secretary-General Haniff Hoosen MP has welcomed the findings of the Public Protector into the investigation of Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa titled "five star accommodation" (click here to view report).

Two years ago, Hoosen called on the Public Protector to investigate Minister Nathi Mthethwa's extravagant hotel lifestyle after it was reported that he spent almost a million rand of taxpayers' money on accommodation at five star hotels during Christmas, New Years Eve and Valentines Day.

‘I finally welcome the report after waiting almost two years for the Public Protector to make her findings known. Although the Minister has been saved "by the skin of his teeth" in this matter, it should be a lesson to his colleagues in the cabinet to conduct themselves in a more frugal manner when spending taxpayers money. I hope that Minister Schiceka will not be afforded the same leniency for his travels to Switzerland,' said Mr Hoosen who has also asked the Public Protector to probe Minister Sicelo Shiceka for allegedly travelling to Switzerland on state expense to visit his girlfriend.

The Public Protector made the following findings and comments:

1. That an amount of R734 448 was spent on accommodation at the five star Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town.

2. That an amount of R432 932 was spent on accommodation at the five star Hilton Hotel in Durban.

3. That he was entitled to accommodation at state expense (Table Bay Hotel) whilst repairs to his official residence was being conducted.

4. That he was entitled to accommodation at state expense (Hilton Hotel) whilst he was on official business.

5. That the Minister was NOT entitled to stay at a five star hotel unless the tariffs of that hotel were reasonable.

6. The Minister did NOT request approval of his accommodation but it was done by his staff in the Ministry.

7. Accommodation was booked for and not used on at least two occasions.

8. Disciplinary action should be considered where there was clear negligence on the path of staff.

9. South Africa has a large poor population and any extravagant living standards of Ministers at the expense of the state have an impact on the money available in the fiscus to assist the poor population.

10. There was no evidence to suggest that the Minister influenced the choice of hotels that his staff booked him into and that he did not contravene the Executive Members Ethics Act.

‘Whilst the Minister's main defence was that he relied upon his staff to conclude his accommodation arrangements, we believe that the Minister should have been more conscious of the high costs associated with five star extravagances especially since the very constituency that he represents are the poorest citizens who are living in appalling conditions,' said Hoosen.

We welcome the steps taken by the Minister to tighten up the systems and procedures in his department in relation to accommodation bookings and that he also took steps to prevent further abuse in the future. The Minister also instructed his staff not to book him into five star hotels in the future unless absolutely necessary.

The ID thanks the Public Protector for the work done in this investigation.

Statement issued by ID Secretary-General, Mr Haniff Hoosen MP, September 28 2011

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