Minister justifies luxury car purchases
EMBATTLED Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini has procured a R1.3 million German sedan for her official use in Pretoria, while her deputy has gone for a R1.1-million SUV.
The R2.4-million splurge on the luxury vehicles for Dlamini and deputy minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu is at odds with the Treasury’s austerity measures.
These were introduced by axed finance minister Pravin Gordhan to curb wasteful and unnecessary spending of public funds in an environment in which government revenue streams are dwindling.
The Treasury capped the procurement price for official vehicles at R650 000 in 2014, later revising it to R750 000.
In a written reply to a question by DA MP Bridget Masango‚ the controversial minister confirmed that her department had bought her a BMW 740i in October.
In July, she wrote, a premium luxury Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV was bought for Bogopane-Zulu.
She told parliament in her reply that buying the vehicles was unavoidable because cars bought in 2009 had aged and had travelled more than 120 000km.
“The Pretoria-based vehicles allocated to the minister and deputy minister in 2009 have far exceeded the prescribed 120 000km and the five-year period,” she said.
“The minister’s vehicle reached 161 523km and the deputy minister’s 143 652km. As such the purchase of new official vehicles became unavoidable and [the cars] needed replacement due to high maintenance costs and security reasons.”
The minister said procurement was guided by Treasury requirements and ministerial handbook stipulations.
The handbook says the purchase price of cars for a minister should not exceed 70% of their annual remuneration, but these may be amended by the Commission on the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers. Ministers earn R2.3-million a year.