R3 million to maintain Zuma residences
More than R3 million a year was spent to maintain President Jacob Zuma’s residential homes in the 2014/15 financial year, according to a reply to a question by EFF MP Floyd Shivambu.
The R3 783 088.27 cost compared with the R1 596 390.38 spent on maintenance for Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s residences, the Department of Public Works said.
A total of R22 562 089.50 was spent on the homes of ministers; R9 430 690.86 on deputy ministers and R90 402 420 on the parliamentary village.
Shivambu asked the public works minister what had been the total all-inclusive amount spent by his department on the maintenance and upkeep of the residential houses of the president, deputy president, ministers and their deputies as well as the parliamentary villages.
The president customarily lives in houses across the country, many of which were heritage buildings like Genadendal in Rondebosch, Cape Town, with its wide verandas, sash windows, highly polished brass garden taps and tranquil gardens where local and foreign visitors were often hosted for meetings.
The garden of his Pretoria residence Mahlamba Ndlopfu had been declared a national heritage site, according to the Presidency.
Ramaphosa would be no stranger to property maintenance costs after declaring he owns 31 townhouses in Johannesburg and two flats in Cape Town in his private capacity in the recently released register of members’ interests.
Many MPs and seasonal parliamentary officials opt to live in the parliamentary villages of Acacia Park, Pelican Park and Laboria Park in Cape Town.
Zuma was due to answer questions in Parliament on Thursday.
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