Another R37.24 million hole in country’s fiscus
The new minister of electricity will probably earn a salary of R2.4 million a year, while his deputy will get R2 million, according to Democratic Alliance shadow minister for public service and administration Leon Schreiber.
“And don’t forget the four luxury vehicles [two for the minister and two for the deputy] that will be purchased using taxpayers’ money at a combined cost of R3.2 million.
“Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has quietly increased the cap on vehicle costs to R800 000 each,” he said.
“These new Cabinet cadres will, of course, also get free water and electricity at each of their two official residences [in Pretoria and Cape Town] up to a maximum R60 000 per year, per house – for a total of R240 000.”
Schreiber said that the figure does not even include the cost of the four official residences these cadres will occupy, the domestic and international trips they will take, or the cost of renting more offices and hiring staff that will report to the minister.
Based on stipulations in the Ministerial Handbook, Schreiber says President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plans to include another ministerial portfolio to his Cabinet would likely cost taxpayers an extra R37.24 million, making a significant dent in the country’s fiscus.
He said Ramaphosa was adding insult to injury by choosing to “abuse the load shedding crisis to create more cushy jobs for useless cadres”.
Ramaphosa on Thursday in his State of the Nation Address for announced that as part of the ANC government’s strategy to tackle the energy crisis in the country, he would be appointing a minister of electricity.
“To deal more effectively and urgently with the challenges that confront us, I will appoint a minister of electricity in the presidency to assume full responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the electricity crisis response, including the work of the National Energy Crisis Committee.
“The minister will focus fulltime and work with the Eskom board and management on ending load shedding and ensuring that the Energy Action Plan is implemented without delay,” he said.