Review ministerial handbook and reduce size of Cabinet: DA

Government should review the ministerial handbook and also reduce the size of the Cabinet‚ the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.

The party said since assuming office‚ President Cyril Ramaphosa had promised to address government excesses including giving due consideration to downsizing his Cabinet.

“It is clear‚ however‚ from some parliamentary replies we have received that he has not taken any steps to address some of the opulent costs that come with his Cabinet.”

The party said the country’s sluggish economy and growing budget deficit called for restraint in government spending.

“The ANC government‚ however‚ appears far removed from this reality and continues to spend recklessly for the comfort and extravagant lifestyles of members of the Executive.”

It said this year alone the country’s 35 ministers and 37 deputy ministers would earn R163.5-million and more than R510.5-million over the medium-term.

It said the Department of Public Works spent over R188-million on acquiring just 33 properties in Pretoria and Cape Town at a staggering average of R5.7-million per residence.

“It was revealed last year that an additional R48-million will be spent on acquiring six additional residences at an average of R8-million per residence in the 2017/18 financial year.”

It said if the National Ministerial Handbook provisions on cars were considered and accepting that two official vehicles per minister and deputy were allowed‚ a total of R229-million would be spent on official cars.

“Simply put the country’s current Cabinet is not fit for purpose and needs to be cut.”

The DA said previous presidents had smaller cabinets.

It said if Ramaphosa had the same size cabinet as that of former president Thabo Mbeki (50)‚ he would save R52.5-million in salaries in 2018/19 and R163.7-million over the medium-term.

The DA said the National Ministerial Handbook was extraordinarily lenient in some respects and ministers had used the handbook as an excuse for excessive expenditure.

“The handbook was set for an update but has not been updated since 2007‚ while millions are wasted.”

It said the Department of Public Service and Administration had already stated in 2014 that they were reviewing the handbook with little to show.

“If the president is serious about helping National Treasury rein in the runaway budget deficit‚ he will have to cut executive spending by finalising a stricter and more frugal ministerial handbook‚ as well as cutting the overall size of the Cabinet.”

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