R23‚000 a night for a basic bed-breakfast in London is normal: Parliament
Parliament has defended the abnormal cost by one of its employees, Gengezi Mgidlana, to travel overseas.
City Press reported that the Secretary to Parliament Gengezi Mgidlana forked out R44,320 for a chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz while on an overseas trip.
The paper reported that Mgidlana went on a “study visit” to Budapest, Hungary in July, where he hired a Mercedes-Benz E-Class at R8,660 per day for five days, at the tax payers expense.
City Press previously reported that Mgidlana and senior parliamentary staff spent almost R2 million in “benchmarking” trips, flying business class and staying in five-star hotels in the UK and Turkey.
On that occasion, Mgidlana spent R42,150 for three nights at the Conrad London St James Hotel, in London.
Parliament rejected the article as sensational and misleading, ‘and should be rejected with the contempt they deserve’.
Parliament appeared to use the exchange rate as a cost multiplier.
“The report ignores facts and selectively portrays costs of the official trips to international partners of Parliament as very high, negating for example, the applicable Rand-Pound exchange rates that any South African gets subjected to when visiting London or other European countries.
“For example, a basic hotel accommodation service which costs R1300 for bed-and-breakfast for every civil servant in South Africa, could cost about R23 000 per day in London. The policies are clear with regarding to transport and accommodation services the STP, as the Accounting Officer of Parliament, is entitled to nationally and internationally,” Parliament said in a statement.
Regarding the provision of chauffeur services in the country, Parliament said that it was done in line with the applicable policies and regulations.
Read: Secretary to Parliament splurges R44,000 on chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz
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