{"id":164223,"date":"2017-03-14T10:29:07","date_gmt":"2017-03-14T08:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=164223"},"modified":"2017-03-14T11:09:57","modified_gmt":"2017-03-14T09:09:57","slug":"these-are-the-luxury-cars-sa-ministers-have-spent-over-r17-5-million-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/164223\/these-are-the-luxury-cars-sa-ministers-have-spent-over-r17-5-million-on\/","title":{"rendered":"These are the luxury cars SA ministers have spent over R17.5 million on"},"content":{"rendered":"

Replies to a parliamentary question put forward by the DA have revealed that South Africa’s cabinet ministers have spent over R17.5 million on luxury cars since 2014, with Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Jeeps being among the most popular.<\/p>\n

Luxury vehicles for ministers has been a major point of contention in South Africa’s political landscape, where it is widely seen as an excessive and unnecessary cost, flying in the face of millions of South Africans who are suffering in poverty through tough economic times.<\/p>\n

In the 2016\/17 budget allocations for ministers, R10 million was set aside for car purchases, which sent the DA on a mission to find out how much money had been spent on vehicles by all cabinet ministers.<\/p>\n

Cabinet ministers\u00a0justify their purchases by quoting the controversial ministerial handbook, which says that ministers are entitled to two vehicles for use in Cape Town and Pretoria, and that the value of\u00a0the vehicles may not be more than 70% of a minister’s salary.<\/p>\n

With an annual salary for ministers at\u00a0R2.3 million and R1.9 million for their deputies, this means government officials are\u00a0technically “allowed” to buy cars to the value of\u00a0R1.6 million (R1.3 million for deputies) – and the officials clearly make sure they get their money’s worth.<\/p>\n

According to data released by the DA, these are the cars South Africa’s ministers are driving:<\/p>\n

\n

Audi Q7 – R680,878 –\u00a0R971,424<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Audi Q7 is a favourite among ministers and their deputies, with deputy minister in the presidency Buti Manamela<\/strong>, science and technology minister Naledi Pando<\/strong>r, telecoms minister Siyabonga Cwele<\/strong>, education minister Angie Motshekga<\/strong>, and deputy minister of tourism Tokozile Xasa<\/strong> all the happy owners of one or more.<\/p>\n

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Audi A7 – R750,000<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Purchased in 2016 by deputy minister of public service and administration Ayanda Dlodlo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Audi A8 – R723,000<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Purchased in 2016 by deputy minister of public service and administration Ayanda Dlodlo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n

Mercedes Benz ML400 – R962,793<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bought by Rejoice Mabudafhasi, deputy minister of arts and culture.\u00a0Deputy minister of tourism, Tokozile Xasa <\/strong>is also a proud owner of a Merc.<\/p>\n

\n

BMW X5 – R887,168 – R1.065 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Owned by both communications minister Faith Muthambi<\/strong>, and Rejoice Mabudafhasi<\/strong>, deputy minister of arts and culture.<\/p>\n

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BMW 335G – R727,770<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A need for speed possessed by deputy minister of basic education, Enver Surty<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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BMW 5-series sedan – R742,426<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa<\/strong> has two.<\/p>\n

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Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.6 Overland – R626,661<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jeep is a favourite in the telco department, with telecoms minister Siyabonga Cwele<\/strong> and his deputy owning the brand. Deputy telecoms minister, Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize<\/strong>‘s Jeep Grand Cherokee is only slightly less fancy than Cwele’s.<\/p>\n

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Lexus ES250 – R438,152<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Deputy telecoms minister, Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize<\/strong> also has a fancy for Lexus.<\/p>\n

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Mercedes-Benz S400 – R1.3 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mosebenzi Zwane<\/strong>, minister of mineral resources, has expensive taste, and is one of the few ministers to blow over R1 million on a single vehicle.<\/p>\n

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Porsche Cayenne – R1.3 million<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Porsche<\/a><\/p>\n

Like his boss,\u00a0deputy mineral resources minister Godfrey Oliphant<\/strong> does not mess around.<\/p>\n

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Ford Everest\u00a0– R714,500<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Public service and administration minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi<\/strong>\u00a0likes a good Ford.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Toyota Fortuner – R625,719<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Toyota<\/a><\/p>\n

Trade and industry minister Rob Davies<\/strong> owns two Toyota Fortuner vehicles.<\/p>\n

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Read:\u00a0Deputy minister helps herself to two luxury cars valued at R1.5 million<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Replies to a parliamentary question put forward by the DA have revealed that South Africa’s cabinet ministers have spent over R17.5 million on luxury cars since 2014, with Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Jeeps being among the most popular.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":164261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-164223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164223"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164269,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164223\/revisions\/164269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}