Cape Town – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has criticised the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) for allegedly spending R15 million on accommodation for the department’s two ministers, deputies, and staff in just three years.
According to Times Live, Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani, the department’s acting director-general, revealed in a parliamentary written reply that the total amount spent on accommodation from May 2019 to date was R15 345 562.86.
Of this amount, R3 615 001.95 was spent on accommodation for Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams and Khumbudzo Ntshaveni, while R1 021 003.90 was spent on housing deputy ministers and over R10 million was spent on officials in the department, the report said.
Ndabeni-Abrahams served as the department’s minister from November 2018 to July 2021, after which Ntshavheni took over.
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In the reply, Jordan-Dyani also revealed the total amount spent by the department on catering for the period in question was R739 000, The Citizen reported.
The two ministers spent R158 000 on food while their deputies spent R91 000 and officials spent R491 000, reports said.
Following the revelations, the EFF in a statement described the two ministers as “parasites whowho have no regard for the massive poverty of ordinary people”.
“The inhumanity of spending such exorbitant amounts of money on accommodation while government meetings and interactions have been held virtually for the past three years is indicative of parasites who have no regard for the massive poverty of ordinary people.
“If Ramaphosa has any semblance of decency and commitment to rooting out corruption, he will remove these self-obsessed and good for nothing individuals, who misused state money in the face of retrenchment, closure of businesses, and death,” the EFF said.
EFF STATEMENT ON MISUSE OF TAXPAYERS MONEY BY STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS AND KHUMBUDZO NTSHAVENI pic.twitter.com/5aoKAgF6Ts
— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) May 17, 2022
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Picture: Facebook / Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams
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Compiled by Sinothando Siyolo
