‘Cabinet living like Rockstars’

DA leader John Steenhuisen has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to reconsider how the country’s cabinet should look like. He says South Africa is at the top across the world, for having the largest cabinet.

This after the President reshuffled his executive, adding other ministries last week.

Steenhuisen says cabinet costs taxpayers a lot of money, yet service delivery continues to be on a downward trend, with unemployment on the rise.

He took the DA frustration along with the DA leader in Gauteng, Solly Msimanga, to the ministerial residences, Bryntirion in Pretoria this morning.

“How do you drive out of this world and then go into a community like Mamelodi or Soshanguve and see the suffering and misery of those people living in those areas. And come back here and feel good about yourself at the end of the day. Mr President, have you and your cabinet government no shame whatsoever, have you got no compensation for the people that are literally living from hand to mouth every day. ”

The DA is taking the fight against the use of taxpayers money to fund what it calls a “Cabinet living like Rockstars” to parliament and provincial legislatures.

Steenhuisen says they will be introducing the Private Members bill, called the “cut cabinet packs bill” in order to reduce the billions of rand used to maintain the highest lifestyle being loved by cabinet ministers in South Africa.

He says these monies could be used to improve the lives of ordinary South Africans, through job creation and not the R350 social relief grant by SASSA.

“We bringing a Private Members bill already called the cut cabinet packs bill. And Leon is already in a battle with the Public Protector for her to declare the ministerial handbook unlawful because it has got no oversight whatsoever. And we got to reduce these packs and it’s got to apply across the board. We can’t afford this. The President said in Parliament he doesn’t have the largest cabinet in world, he does, and it comes at a huge expense.”

Video: DA pickets against cabinet perks: John Steenhuisen