Time to vote out the freeloading ministers abusing our tax money

WHAT we, the taxpayers and ordinary South Africans, are up against: “R400K to eliminate minister’s house pests and R93 million on upgrades to satisfy the opulence of our aristocratic cabinet ministers’ living conditions”.

Then there was R3.4m on swimming pool maintenance and water features on no fewer than 388 occasions between 2019 and 2022. Further, R2.1m was spent on diesel for generators at 71 ministerial homes in Pretoria, plus an additional R454 000 to install a generator at one ministerial residence in Pretoria. A further R470 000 was spent on repairing intercom and a security camera at one minister’s home in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg. R1.6m was spent on fixing leaking roofs at one ministerial home in Bryntirion Estate in Pretoria.

To cap it all, you and I have paid over R43m between 2020 and 2022 just so that ministers who are busy plundering this country, could have free electricity, water and municipal services to their ministerial homes. Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Sihle Zikalala, seemed “shocked” and said he would launch an inquiry into what he said “appears to be hugely inflated prices”. Apparently

“no minister has a say in the multimillion-rand public works spending spree”, according to Zikalala.

Even if they didn’t, where was the oversight to prevent such gratuitous overspend on public servants who are nothing but leeches living off the people?

My caution to all of South Africa: if you don’t act where it matters – the ballot box in 2024 – you are looking at the barrel of a very long gun that is highly loaded and thugs who are simply trigger-happy to shoot first then ask questions.

NARENDH GANESH | Durban North