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The Public Protector has confirmed to the Democratic Alliance (DA) today that she will investigate the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, and the Minister of Transport, S’bu Ndebele, for potential breaches of the Executive Ethics Code and the Constitution.

This is in response to charges we laid regarding these Ministers’ reckless and extravagant spending at luxury hotels since 2009. The DA hopes that this investigation will help put a stop to the growing trend of Ministers wasting public money on personal luxuries.

Minister Joemat-Pettersson revealed in her reply to a DA parliamentary question that she has spent almost R1,6 million on domestic hotel stays since taking office. She has enjoyed months of luxurious accommodation, spending R290,000 for 36 days at the 5-Star Peermont D'Oreale Grande Emperor's Palace in Johannesburg and R420,000 for 28 days at a Pure Toys One CC luxury guesthouse in the same city during the World Cup.

Minister Ndebele revealed that he has spent R1,4 million on hotel accommodation thus far. This includes a 25-night stay at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Johannesburg for R190,333, of which R69,984 was spent on a chauffeur-driven car.

This kind of reckless Ministerial expenditure needs to stop. In a country where too many people suffer extreme levels of poverty and inequality, these Ministers’ actions show contempt for the plight of the poor.

The Public Protector has already set a powerful precedent in her ruling on former Minister of Co-operative Governance, Sicelo Shiceka, who was fired by the President for his luxury hotel stays. Advocate Madonsela’s report on Shiceka stated:

“By staying in one of the most expensive hotels during his official visits to Cape Town, repeatedly, before and after an official residence was allocated to him, and without requesting his Private Office to take steps to ensure that the expenditure incurred by the Department is reasonable and justifiable in terms of his responsibility to act in good faith and with integrity, Mr. Shiceka violated the provisions of paragraph 2.3 of the Executive Ethics Code and section 96(2) of the Constitution.”

Ministers Joemat-Pettersson and Ndebele have, in our view, contravened the same legal provisions with their luxurious hotel stays, both before and after obtaining Ministerial housing. That is why we have called on the Public Protector to investigate their actions and recommend appropriate actions if they are found guilty of violating the law. The DA looks forward to the outcome of the investigation and will assist the Public Protector in any way we can.