Share

Ministers getting spoilt while everyone else suffers

So South Africa has just narrowly escaped having its economy status downgraded to “junk” and not even days later, the government is splurging R7 million on luxury vehicles for some of our ministers.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the news of Standard & Poor’s decision to leave our current economic status as “negative” had me in a bit of a celebratory mood myself. I treated my wife and I to dinner and a movie in Ster Kinekor’s Prestige cinema. I spared no expense. We had luxury reclining seats, we bought a large pop-corn combo deal, each and I even parked in the more expensive part of the mall we were at.

In hindsight, I guess I could have gone with the smaller pop-corn combo, because I left the movie feeling rather bloated and uncomfortably full. Nevertheless, a great time was had by my spouse and I; and we vowed to do it all over again – in a couple of months.

It seems though, that our government is in a much more jovial mood and has convinced Santa to come a little early for some of our ministers, who will be getting luxury vehicles. Some of which will be getting not one, but TWO luxury vehicles!

Among the list of vehicles to be bought for our ministers are Audi’s, BMWs, Toyota Fortuners and a Ford Everest in the mix.

Why all the fuss you ask? I mean R7 million is only a drop in the ocean when it comes to some of the other “expenditure” that has been exposed of late. To put it simply, this kind of extravagant spending on luxury vehicles for ministers who, by judging from their salaries, could buy their own cars, is a symbol of the endemic and systematic corruption that has crippled our economy to start with.

If these ministers who want to be seen as leaders had any morals, they would lead by example and buy small runaround cars that are inexpensive and relatively cheap to maintain. Instead, they are in line to either receive two vehicles each or a vehicle over the R1 milion mark.

Let that sink in for a while. Most people in South Africa can only dream of having a house that costs half of the wheels our ministers will be driving.

To add insult to injury though, a debate will be launched in parliament, to “discuss” whether the purchase of these luxury vehicles, is wasteful expenditure or not. To even entertain such a silly debate is a complete insult to the nation’s intelligence and smacks of political entitlement.

It is a well-known fact that the ANC has a major leadership crisis. If any of the ministers in line to receive these vehicles were to turn them down, perhaps it would go a long way to setting a new standard in the severely fractured ruling party.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 545 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 777 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.90
+0.2%
Rand - Pound
23.84
+0.3%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.31
+0.3%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.2%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE