The government will spend R240 million on salaries for new ministers and deputy ministers in the Government of National Unity (GNU).
These remuneration for ministers include expenses such as VIP protection and housing allowances for the 2025/2026 financial year.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana made this known in response to a parliamentary question by ActionSA.
ActionSA MP Alan Beasley said the minister's response was scandalous.
“As ActionSA, we consider the R240 million reward for a bloated cabinet to be completely unacceptable and, in fact, say it is a scandal. There are children who sleep without toilets.The school has toilets with holes in them. You can spend this much money on a bloated cabinet. It's totally unacceptable. And all these new ministers and deputy ministers housed in this bloated cabinet should hang their heads in shame. This is completely disgraceful and ActionSA , we believe it would be better to have a cabinet size of up to 20 people and no MPs,” Beasley said.
Video|There is also criticism about the number of ministers.
The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) claims the R240 million price tag is a waste of taxpayers' money.
“ACDP recognizes that there are many political parties that need to be accommodated in the GNU, but is concerned about the R240-million cost to ministers and their MPs. As a result, budgets have been cut across all sectors, severely impacting teachers, police officers, health workers, soldiers, and all other civil servants in this country's bloated cabinet. It is clear that ACDP cannot afford the associated costs. We believe that government departments need to be restructured to ensure efficiency and better service delivery. This will reduce the number of ministers and deputy ministers and will also result in significant cost savings.” Congressman Steve Swart says:
