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DA clips ANC Gravy Plane’s wings, saving taxpayers up to R39 million per year

by Dr Leon Schreiber MP - DA Shadow Minister for Public Service and Administration

Date: 06 April 2022

Release: Immediate

Please find attached a soundbite by Dr Leon Schreiber MP.

No more business class flights. Up to 75% fewer free flights per year. A five-year limit instead of a lifetime of free flights.

These are some of the cuts that Parliament has made to the Gravy Plane flight benefits of retired Ministers, their Deputies and their families in response to relentless pressure by the Democratic Alliance (DA) over the past two years. This is a historic victory, as it signals the first time in our democratic history that the ANC has been forced to make meaningful cuts to the lavish lifestyles of former Cabinet cadres. And it came about because of the work of the Official Opposition in Parliament, serving as a powerful demonstration of how the DA gets things done.

The cuts are contained in a new Travel Policy for Former Members of Parliament that was quietly issued by the Speaker of the National Assembly on 30 March 2022, and Parliament has since confirmed that these regulations also apply to former Members of the Executive, thereby replacing the outrageous post-retirement benefits previously provided for by the Ministerial Handbook.

In terms of the new rules:

The number of free annual flights for retired Ministers (48 tickets) and their spouses (24 tickets) are cut from a combined total of 72 to 12;

They are now only entitled to economy class instead of business class tickets; and

Instead of a lifetime of free flights, they may now make use of this benefit for a period of five years after retirement from Parliament and only if they served at least one full term in Parliament.

The DA-inspired cuts will save taxpayers up to R39 million per year

Under the previous benefit regime contained in the Ministerial Handbook, and using an average price of R8 000 per business class ticket, a retired Minister who used their full annual allocation (48 tickets) would cost taxpayers R384 000 per year, while their spouse (24 tickets) would cost an additional R192 000. A Deputy Minister who used their full allocation (36 tickets) would rack up costs of R288 000 and their spouse (18 tickets) another R144 000.

If a Minister and their spouse used their full allocation over a 20 year period after retirement, they cost taxpayers over R11.5 million. Similarly, a retired Deputy Minister and their spouse who made full use of the allocation would cost taxpayers R8.6 million over a 20 year period.

In the data exposed by the DA in November 2020, it emerged that 164 different Ministers, Deputy Ministers and their spouses flew the retirement Gravy Plane during the 2018/19 financial year. If all 164 of them used their full annual allocation (at an average cost of R252 000 per person), it would cost taxpayers over R41 million annually – equal to R206 million over a five year period and R826 million over a 20 year period. This is without factoring in the reality that additional people “qualify” for this benefit every time there is a Cabinet reshuffle.

Under the new Travel Policy that came about in direct response to relentless DA pressure, and using an average economy class ticket price of R2 000, each Minister, Deputy Minister or their spouse who used their full annual allocation (6 tickets each or 12 tickets combined) will now cost R12 000 per year, or R60 000 over a five-year period. If all 164 people who used this benefit in 2018/2019 use their full allocation under the new rules, the total would come down from R 41 million to R1.9 million per year.

In total, the DA’s success in clipping the wings of the ANC retirement Gravy Plane can save South African taxpayers up to R39 million per year, or R195 million over a 5-year period.

How the DA clipped Cabinet cadres’ wings

In November 2020, the DA first exposed the Gravy Plane scandal whereby, since 1994, retired Members of the Executive had been spending tens of millions of Rands each year on nearly unlimited business class flights – sometimes decades after they had left office. Between 2014 and 2020 alone, these retired Ministers and Deputies milked taxpayers for over R45 million.

After exposing the Gravy Plane scandal, the DA on 24 November 2020 wrote to both the Auditor-General and the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament, requesting these institutions to investigate this practice for amounting to flagrant irregular expenditure. We also argued that the practice of having Parliament paying special benefits to retired Members of the Executive violated the separation of powers.

Despite a vitriolic and desperate response to the DA’s exposé by the elite beneficiaries of the policy like former Minister Trevor Manuel, six months later, on 1 June 2021, the then-Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise, admitted that there are “certain things we cannot continue to do,” and that Parliament was “engaging with Members of the Executive on their benefits.”

On 30 March 2022, this relentless work by the DA has now culminated in the first ever meaningful reduction in the grand Gravy Plane perks for retired Ministers, Deputy Ministers and their families, saving South African taxpayers up to R39 million per year. Our success in this endeavour provides powerful proof that determined and sustained pressure by a committed Official Opposition can and does eventually lead to significant breakthroughs.

While we welcome this important progress, the DA will now turn our attention to the remaining shortcomings in the fine print contained in the new policy. The most important problem is that all Ministers, Deputy Ministers and their spouses who were previously eligible for free flights in terms of the Ministerial Handbook will remain eligible – albeit in terms of the new limits – until 31 March 2027. Many of these former Ministers have been out of government for years or even decades, and it is nonsensical to force taxpayers to continue paying for their flights for another five years.

In the current economic climate, where millions of South Africans can barely afford to buy fuel to get to work, we also remain unconvinced that retired Ministers should receive any free flights at all, especially given their enormous pension packages. While we have this week made significant progress in reducing this wasteful expenditure –the fight continues.

Grounded Cadres

The following retired Ministers and Deputy Ministers, who spent more than most on Gravy Plane tickets, are sure to be particularly upset about the cuts to their lavish benefits.

Issued by Dr Leon Schreiber MP - DA Shadow Minister for Public Service and Administration