Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa
Photo by: Duane Daws
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa insisted on Wednesday that government’s cost cutting exercise was bearing fruit, despite the fact that the long-awaited revision of the ministerial handbook was still not complete.
Work to revise the ministerial handbook, which sets out the perks ministers, premiers, and other members of the national and provincial executives are entitled to, was first started in 2009 after an outcry about, among others, the hefty price tags attached to luxury vehicles bought for cabinet ministers.
Nearly six years after the review of the handbook was announced, a revised version of the document has yet to be released.
“In line with the cost containment measures pronounced upon by the Minister of Finance, the necessary amendments have to be made to the Ministerial Handbook, whose review is in the process of being finalised,” Ramaphosa said on Wednesday.
“It must be noted that the expenditure related to Ministers and Premiers is administered by the relevant departments and therefore details in this regard will have to be obtained from the individual departments.”
Ramaphosa said cost cutting measures by the executive had however been successful through the negotiation of bulk rates with hotels and cost saving on air travel as departments cut the number of officials required to attend critical meetings.
“By way of example…it should be noted that departments reduced travel and accommodation expenditure by approximately R580-million in the 2014/15 financial year,” said Ramaphosa.
“The exact figure will be known when departments submit their financial statements and the audit of the figures are complete.”