ActionSA has uncovered the staggering cost of South Africa’s bloated cabinet, which will burden taxpayers with an additional R239 million every year.
This mexpansion of the cabinet, comprising new Ministers and Deputy Ministers, will cumulatively exceed R1 billion over the current term.
According to a response to a parliamentary question, the Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana disclosed that the salaries, staff, and related perks for the newly appointed officials will drive the annual cost, including a shocking R800,000 per ministry for luxury vehicles.
This expenditure, at a time when South Africans are grappling with a stagnant economy and austerity measures affecting critical sectors, highlights the excessive financial burden on taxpayers.
ActionSA’s parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, expressed outrage over the decision, calling the cabinet expansion "indefensible."
He noted that while austerity measures have cut funding to vital programmes, they conspicuously fail to touch the political establishment.
“Ministers are public servants, not royalty,” Trollip said, condemning the luxury perks and unnecessary spending.
"The e jet-setting GNU’s insistence on wasteful expenditure is a slap in the face of every citizen who is forced to tighten their belt to make it through each month."
The new cabinet structure, which increased the number of Ministers from 30 to 32 and Deputy Ministers from 36 to 43, is part of the ANC-DA grand coalition. The expansion is seen by critics as an attempt to satisfy political egos and alliances, rather than focusing on addressing the country’s dire economic challenges.
South Africa’s economy contracted by 0.3% in the third quarter, and annual growth remains at a sluggish 0.3%. Despite these challenges, the government has chosen to allocate additional resources to fund the luxury perks of the expanded cabinet, said Trollip.
ActionSA has called for an immediate reduction in the cabinet size, proposing a leaner structure with no more than 20 Ministers and the abolition of all Deputy Minister positions.
The party argues that this would help curb wasteful government spending and redirect resources to more urgent areas.
“It cannot be that South Africans continue to bear the financial burden of a bloated government created solely to satisfy political ambitions. We need a government that prioritises the people, not the alliances,'' said Trollip.
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