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The press conference held this morning by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, to “set the record straight” about the R1.6 million hotel bill she racked up at the state’s expense has left us with more questions than answers.

Despite claiming that officials in her department provided “incorrect information” to Parliament about her hotel stays, the Minister did not put forward the correct information today. The Minister neither clarified how many nights she spent at hotels, nor how much money was actually spent.

Instead of coming clean with Parliament and the public about her vast hotel bill, and numerous anomalies such as why two hotels were often booked for the Minister at one time, Minister Joemat-Pettersson has simply sought to shift the blame to staff in her department and Public Works.

The only person who can now set the record straight on the Ministers’ hotel spending is the Public Protector.

The Minister says that “some of the entries” in her parliamentary reply included meetings with stakeholders where refreshments were served, and thus should not be included as hotel stays. That may be the case, but the Minister has yet to clarify which instances she is referring to, because it still appears that most of her expensive and long-term bookings were accommodation costs.

For instance, her three most expensive hotel bills – costing R845,000, more than half of the R1,6 million identified in her reply – cannot surely not be explained away as banqueting charges for stakeholders.

• 36 days, costing R135 000, at the Vineyard Hotel and Spa in Cape Town – July/August 2009
• 36 days, costing R290 000, at the Peermont D’Oreale Grande Emperor’s Palace JHB – Sept/October 2009
• 28 days, costing R420 000, at a Pure Toys One CC guesthouse in Johannesburg – June/July 2010 (World Cup)

We still have not been provided with an explanation for anomalies such as these.

The DA reiterates its call for the Public Protector to investigate Minister Joemat-Pettersson’s conduct, so that the record can be set straight once and for all.