MINISTER of Finance Pravin Gordhan has allocated an additional R266-million in his medium-term budget to the budget of the Department of International Relations for renovations of embassies and the forthcoming international climate change conference.
The department will receive R200-million for the hosting of the 17th Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention on Climate Change (COP 17) in Durban next month.
An additional R66-million will fund renovations of SA embassies in Washington, London and Nigeria.
The Washington embassy will receive a R51-million facelift, while the renovation of elevators in the London embassy will cost R2.7-million. The construction of an embassy and official residence for ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, will cost R12.5-million.
The medium-term budget also showed that the department had incurred "unforeseeable and unavoidable expenditure" of R10-million "for the management of conflicts in Africa, particularly in Libya, Sudan and Burundi".
The government came under fire last week when it emerged that it was spending more than R386-million to renovate President Zuma's official residences and offices in Cape Town and Pretoria, as well as the Bryntirion estate, where most ministers live.
The DA's former parliamentary leader, Athol Trollip, described the refurbishments as exorbitant, saying they showed "little regard for the poor and little respect for the prudent way in which state funds should be managed".
The Department of Public Works has since denied that renovations to Zuma's state houses and offices would cost so much.
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