Ramaphosa AXES ministers’ benefits – here are the perks they lost

President Cyril Ramaphosa has made a U-turn on the controversial ministerial handbook, which means his ministers and their deputies will lose some of the perks that came with being part of the national executive.

In May 2022, Ramaphosa signed off on the amended ministerial handbook, which removed the R5 000 cap on municipal utilities covered by the government. This while ordinary South Africans continue navigating the tough economic climate which has seen food and petrol prices skyrocket. In addition, ministers and their deputies were allowed to spend an additional R100 000 of taxpayers’ money on their vehicles, meaning they can fork out as much as R800 000 on new wheels.

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RAMAPHOSA WITHDRAWS CHANGES TO MINISTERIAL HANDBOOK

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya announced in a press briefing on Monday, 17 October 2022, that the amendments to the ministerial handbook have been withdrawn.

“The withdrawal will give effect to the 2019 version of the Executive guide, pending a review. President Ramaphosa acknowledges and appreciates the public’s sentiments on the matter, however the impression created that the amendments were conducted in secrecy and to avoid public scrutiny is false,” Magwenya said.

The amendment means that the R5 000 cap on water and electricity is reinstated and ministers and their deputies will have to foot the bill for their own utilities, should it exceed the amount. The additional R100 000 to spend on new vehicles has also been reversed.

The announcement came on the same day the Democratic Alliance (DA) announced it was giving Ramaphosa until Friday to scrap the handbook and replace it with a new and transparent process which allows Parliament to decide on Cabinet’s perks. The DA had threatened to lead a protest to Bryntirion Estate in Pretoria, where a lot of his ministers stay.

Reacting to the latest developments, the DA’s Leon Schreiber said: “This DA victory for the people means that taxpayers no longer have to pay for unlimited free water and electricity for ministers and deputy ministers. It will also save the public over R87 million per year that would have gone to higher salaries for more ANC cadres”