DA questions R58m expenditure at official residences of ministers

CAPE TOWN - Official residences of cabinet ministers in Cape Town and Pretoria have cost the taxpayer R58-million in services since 2019.

A breakdown of this figure was given by Public Works Minister Sihle Zikalala after a Parliamentary question posed by the Democratic Alliance.

The DA has described the expenditure as an abuse of power by the ANC government while millions of citizens live in poverty.

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The money was spent on providing free water, electricity and alternative power supply as well as on security upgrades.

"If you take those figures over R40-million on water and electricity and you add the R7-million that was spent just to procure generators and solar powers for this official residences," DA MP Leon Schreiber said.

"The picture is clear cabinet ministers and deputy minister are responsible for loa-shedding crisis are using taxpayer money to escape the consequences of that crisis. That is something most South Africans will find immoral.

"It also creates a question around the seriousness of this government to actually solve load-shedding when it doesn’t really experience what it is about on the ground.”