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State says ministers' new luxury vehicles 'tools to do work'  Comments
October 28, 2009


The luxury vehicles many members of President Jacob Zuma's new Cabinet have acquired over the past six months are but "tools to do work", Public Service and Administration Minister Richard Baloyi said on Wednesday.

Briefing the media at Parliament, he said ministers had to be "highly mobile" in order to carry out their duties.

"They have to travel from one place to another, doing work... There has to be a conducive environment in order for them to do their work."

"It [is] the responsibility of government to provide the necessary minimum resources that are required for ministers to do their work," Baloyi said.

Referring to the ministerial Handbook -- the document stipulates departments may spend up to "70 percent of the inclusive annual remuneration package of a minister" on official vehicles -- he said all ministers who had acquired new vehicles had stayed within its guidelines.

Over the past six months, Cabinet members have spent, in total, tens of millions of rands on luxury vehicles, many fitted with expensive accessories, for official use in both Cape Town and Pretoria.

"It's within the prescription [of the Ministerial Handbook]," Baloyi said.


Asked if he thought it was moral and ethical for ministers to be driving around in luxury vehicles while many South Africans were going hungry, he responded: "This is a tool to do work. A tool to do work must be assessed in terms of the environment where this worker is supposed to do work."

Asked if it bothered him, Baloyi -- who is a member of the ministerial team appointed to effect savings in government spending, a brief that includes a review of the handbook --
replied: "Yes, yes, it does bother. That is why we are saying we are considering options."

Asked when the review would be completed, he did not give a date.

"We are working on that. It will have to be soon we finalise the review process."

On whether options being examined by the team included a "tightening" of the handbook's prescriptions on ministerial official vehicles, he agreed this was under discussion.

"[But] I don't want to pre-empt the final outcome of the review," he said.

Earlier, Baloyi told journalists he had been tasked by Cabinet to deal with all future issues relating to government vehicles. - Sapa

Showing page 1 of 1 comment pages, 7 total comments
14 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
Why will Farewell call other people bastards, it is a pity that morons like him are allowed to share views on issues they have absolutely no clue about. If someone could tell me that in the middle of poverty and war on underdevelopment, the state ceases to function, no one says the ministerial bling is right given the circumstances but for people like farewell to sound obscenities to innocent people who exercise their democratic right and vote to be called bastards is a shame and a curse of being a messed up south african, who is leaving the country with the hope of exporting his problems and moral baggage to other countries, we say farewell to you bastard
14 Weeks ago Farewell wrote :
I just feel very sorry for the poor bastads that will vote for them, election after election. My exitplan is in place for we are farting against thunder here
14 Weeks ago Rod wrote :
I just love the comment "to do their work" what utter tripe! They can do their work in a Toyota "Tazz" or is that car below their dignity! The bloody ANC are crooks to the core and all they want is the most expensive car on the market and to then settle down and figure out a way of skimming more cash from the coffers! That is why we will soon be Zimbabwe South! Come on DA challenge these idiots!!!
14 Weeks ago Georgev wrote :
Despite having seen the question raised a number of times, I have never seen the formal answer. The question is "Do they pay perks tax on these vehicles?"
14 Weeks ago Anonymous wrote :
How disingenuous can you get? Is there so little fear of any true accountability that we, the taxpayers, can blithely be told to go and screw ourselves, without any recourse? Lying, thieving parasites.
14 Weeks ago skedonk wrote :
and if you believe this load of hogwash you'll believe anything. george orwell is one helluva soothsayer on communism ideals. the reality is that some people are more equal than others...
14 Weeks ago Yes its the truth.. wrote :
Surely the government should have standardised vehicles for all so no one is abusing tax payers money. And they can focus on educating and feeding the homeless and destitute instead of what colour interior their new Mercedes Benz SLR should be OUR GOVERNMENT SUCKS !!! VIVA FREEDOM OF SPEECH VIVA!!!!!
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