By Akani Nkuna
ActionSA has expressed concern over travel expenses within the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department.
It says Minister Velenkosi Hlabisa and his two deputies have spent R10 million between them in travel expenses since they assumed office.
According to ActionSA MP Alan Beesley, Hlabisa’s travel expenses have reached R3.4 million, covering both international and domestic trips.
Deputy Minister Zolile Burns-Ncamashe’s international travel costs are R3.9 million, and Deputy Minister Namane Masemola’s international and domestic travel costs total R2.5 million.
These details were provided to ActionSA’s parliamentary questions.
“The information provided highlights a disturbing continuation of old habits within this new government of national unity, a reliance on costly and extravagant travel arrangements despite the mounting socio-economic challenges faced by ordinary South Africans.
“Under the guise of official duties, taxpayer money is being drained to fund what appears to be lavish travel expenditure. These patterns are symptomatic of a broader failure by the ANC to prioritise fiscal discipline in governance,” Beesley said on Thursday.
Through its GNU performance tracker launched last year, ActionSA revealed that that the ministries of Minerals and Petroleum Resources and CoGTA have collectively spent R11,964,756 on domestic and international travel in under a year.
“In this apparent obsession with overseas travel, Minister Hlabisa would do well to remember that many of South Africa’s 257 municipalities languish in abject dereliction while he and his lieutenants jet-set across the globe.
“Our municipalities are struggling to make ends meet either through financial mismanagement of their own doing or through the glaring lack of resources which this staggering travel bill would have gone some way to alleviating,” said Beesley.
ActionSA stressed that transparency in government spending was crucial for rebuilding public trust.
As part of its efforts to promote accountability and expose wasteful expenditure, the party was pushing for the prudent use of public funds, especially when millions of South Africans were struggling with unemployment and underfunded essential services.
The party wants a mandatory disclosure of travel expenses and justification for costs exceeding predetermined thresholds, and comprehensive audits of travel arrangements to identify potential wastage.
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