There has been outrage after the latest version of the Ministerial Handbook of rules for the executive, published earlier this year, revealed that the official cap of R5 000 per month per house, had been removed.
Moses Mushi, spokesperson for the Department of Public Service and Administration, in an interview on Tuesday, confirmed that ministers and their deputies now did not pay for any utilities at their official residences.
“Residences that are occupied by members of the executive are official residences.
“Members do have their own homes in whatever province they might be coming from where they continue to pay their own utilities,” Mushi said.
He said members of the executive are appointed at the pleasure of the president and were expected to work in Pretoria.
“(They must) be available to serve the nation (and) the government provides the official residences (with these services) because we expect them to be available to the nation 24 hours, without any disturbances or any excuses to be available to go into communities at any time. As such the government provides the official residences with utilities as members of the executive.”
Cosatu has criticised the removal of the cap, saying it was shameless and scandalous considering that millions of poor people struggle with the escalating cost of living.
Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the country’s Cabinet members were among the highest paid in the world and they led one of the most unequal countries where unemployment continued to rise.
Recently, media reports revealed that generators were installed at the homes of ministers and their deputies at taxpayers' expense as the country experienced some of its highest levels of load shedding.
Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane described the removal of the cap as ‘ridiculous and unmitigated greed’.
“They find more and more ways to eat but never more ways to help the South Africans on the ground who are struggling.
“They want you to pay more while they pay nothing,” he said on social media.