Government is spending R3 million a month renting two floors of office space in New York
South Africa’s most expensive embassy is located in New York City and costs the government R2,842,000 a month (roughly R33 million a year) to operate it.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation in September posted a list of official residencies and chanceries that are either rented or owned wholly by the government.
The list has faced questioning, with certain chanceries (the offices of South African embassies) coming under scrutiny. The list found that the country’s most expensive embassy is in the United States, located at 845 Third Avenue in New York.
Rent at the building totals $160,000 a month, which in October 2022 comes to around R2.8 million.
Answering a recent parliamentary Q&A focused on the New York property, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, said that the rent for the office space is due to where it is situated.
Pandor noted that it is in close proximity to the United Nations and the transit system, which are critical considerations with regard to the accessibility and mobility of the commission’s operations.
According to the minister, the total square footage for the two floors is 51,843 square feet – equivalent to 4,816 square meters of real estate. The offices take up both the ninth and tenth floors of the building and are the place of work for 67 employees.
Government has other embassies across the globe, including the second most expensive one in Tokyo, which costs R1.76 million, followed by a place in Geneva for R1.5 million – among others. The majority, however, are cheaper than R2 million.
US relations
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s most recent trip to the US was in September when he accepted an invitation to hold talks with his counterpart Joe Biden in Washington DC – the political capital of the US.
Pandor said the president’s visit to the US provided an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations through engagement and deepen multilateralism through the United Nations (UN).
According to the White House’s readout of the meeting between the two, they discussed progress on several topics outlined during their initial call in April, including trade and investment and climate and energy.
“To this end, President Biden announced the creation of a South Africa-US Investment Advisory Task Force and a planned $45 million investment toward the Just Energy Transition Partnership,” reported the White House.
Ramaphosa’s international trip was cut short after visiting the US as he had to return home to address severe rolling blackouts caused by the national power utility struggling to maintain a stable electricity supply.
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