It is rather difficult to get hold of a copy of the Ministerial Handbook (also known as A Handbook for Members of the Executive and Presiding Officers). I searched the Internet for more than an hour yesterday (which included a search on the government’s own website as well as several legal databases) – all to no avail.
Those Ministers sure do not want us ordinary folk to know what is in this mysterious Handbook of theirs. Finally, after contacting DA MP, Dene Smuts, an efficient DA researcher provided me with a copy of the Handbook (and as any good PR person would, also included DA proposals for changes to the handbook).
After studying the Handbook I understand why its content is being kept half-secret.
This is the thing: It is far from clear that claims by a spokesperson of Communications Minister, Siphiwe Nyanda, that the Ministerial Handbook had entitled the Minister to stay in the most luxurious 5 Star Hotels for 6 months at a cost of more than R500 000 could be squared with the actual provisions of the Handbook.
Why did Nyanda not stay in the house allocated to him after he became the Minister of Communications? Why was the poor man made to suffer for six months by having to stay at the most expensive Hotels in Cape Town? Personally I would not be seen dead at these terrible, inhumane, dumps and would rather sleep in the boot of my car.
Who could possible live in a ”spacious, grand and elegant suit” with “spectacular views of Table Mountain”, have access to “two heated swimming pools”, ”magnificent flood-lit tennis courts”, a yoga centre “complete with feature inspiring music, fresh flowers, candlelight, therapeutic scents and post-yoga refreshments”, an ”on-site golf practice net”, “on-site hair salon” and a ”world class holistic spa experience, where the trilogy of mind, body and spirit is nurtured”?
Sounds awful, doesn’t it? Who would not rather stay in a lovely state owned house in Upper Claremont?
(By the way, it’s a good thing Minister Nyanda was not allocated a house in lower Claremont because he would surely then have been entitled not to occupy a house in such a bad neighbourhood and would have been forced to stay at the Mount Nelson for another few years, poor man.)
Well, the Mail & Guardian reported as follows on the poor Minister’s woes:
A Cabinet colleague of Nyanda told the Mail & Guardian that the reason Nyanda had apparently given for refusing to move into his Hooggelegen residence in sought-after Upper Claremont was because the public works department had not bought him a bed. A senior communications department source confirmed this explanation was also doing the rounds in the department, but added that Nyanda was allegedly also unhappy that his house did not have a view.
Although Nyanda’s spokesperson strongly denied this, the department of public works confirmed on Thursday that Nyanda hadn’t moved in because of a delay with the delivery of furniture “to accommodate him”. Public works spokesperson Thamsanqa Mchunu confirmed that Nyanda’s furniture finally arrived on February 5 and February 26.
So, one explanation for his splurge was that while the house was furnished and he could have stayed in it (sleeping on one of the other beds in the house, one presumes) or could have bought his own bed (I am told one can buy a very nice bed for about R10 000 – a bit less than the R500 000 us tax payers eventually spent on the Hotel Bills), the house needed a bed for the General to sleep on. We all need a good night’s rest, after all, and national security, the national interest and the public good required the Minister to be alert at all times in case he had to deal with yet more reports of the SABC banning an old leader of the party from its airwaves.
Another, unconfirmed, explanation was that he was not happy with the view (even though the house was in upper Claremont). The official version was that new furniture (obviously replacing existing furniture) had to be provided “to accommodate” the General. One assumes this means the General was not happy with the original furniture (which was obviously not up to the standard of the Mount Nelson) and he thus ordered new furniture which would “accommodate” him and would ensure he would stay in the style and comfort that he had become accustomed to.
This kind of thing is covered by the Ministerial Handbook, which states in chapter 2:
If, owing to exceptional circumstances, a State-owned residence is not immediately available for Members upon assumption of duty of office, expenses in connection with alternative accommodation may be debited to the State until an official residence becomes available.
The first question would be whether the absence of one bed or unhappiness with the existing furniture would constitute “exceptional circumstances” as required by the Handbook. The second question would be whether a house is “not available” if some of the furnishings in the house are not to the liking of the new resident.
Now, maybe I am just not used to the millionaire’s lifestyle, but I find it rather difficult to believe that the absence of one bed or unhappiness with the state of the existing furniture could possibly have legally constituted “exceptional circumstances” as required by the Handbook. In a country where many people live in shacks, one could hardly argue with a straight face that unhappiness with the quality of furniture constituted “exceptional circumstances” that mandated an extended stay at tax payers expense in some of South Africa’s most expensive Hotels.
This conclusion seems irresistible if one reads the clause in conjunction with the provisions in Chapter 4 of the Handbook which stipulates what the Department of Public Works is required to provide to an official accommodated in official state housing:
The furnishing of State-owned residences is limited to the provision, and maintenance, of ordinary household furniture, mattresses, pillows, carpets, curtains, beds, stoves, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, tumble dryers and heaters, micro-wave ovens and dishwashers on request….. If a piece of furniture becomes redundant in a State-owned residence, the Office of the Member concerned should make the necessary arrangements in consultation with the Office of the Minister of Public Works to have the article/s removed and the inventories amended accordingly.
These provisions confirm that the Department would only provide the bare minimum of furniture for a house and would also – as a matter of course - replace “redundant” furniture. Such replacements are not treated as “exceptional circumstances” but are treated as ordinary day-to-day arrangements that should be made between the official and the Department. The sections in chapter 4 do not provide for a Minister to vacate his or her residence while the furniture are being replaced and it is thus not viewed as exceptional circumstances when any piece of state owned furniture is not up to the exacting standards of the relevant Minister.
More damning perhaps is that the residence was obviously “immediately available”. There it was standing – in upper Claremont nogal - a shiny house, shimmering in the morning light, furnished and ready to be used by any good servant of the masses of our people. Although the furniture were not to the Minister’s liking, that did not make the house “not available”. It just made the house not to the taste of the Minister (whom it turned out, had rather more expensive tastes than the previous owners).
All this suggests that the Minister was not allowed by the Ministerial Handbook to stay in 5 Star Hotels for six months at a cost of more than R500 000 and that he is legally required to pay back the money he had wasted. Maybe the Public Protector – who seems to be taking her job rather seriously and is acting without fear, favour or prejudice - should be asked to investigate this matter?
Meanwhile, the President might take up the suggestion of Cosatu’s Zwelenzima Vavi (is he finally regretting the fact that he gunned for the abolition of the Scorpions?) to have the serious allegations of corruption levelled against Minister Nyanda investigated. Just because General Nyanda has displayed a taste for the good life and seems to have flouted the Ministerial Handbook does not, of course, mean that he is a corrupt businessman too. But it does make one wonder.
Hey Pierre,
If it’s not covered by the “Documents to be kept from gullible public to cover up excessive spending Act” please make it available for download.
Down with Apartheid but Viva Ministerial Handbook, Verwoed, Bothas et al left us with perks.
“public works department had not bought him a bed”.
Hey, these guys even deliver within 24 hours http://www.bedsforafrica.co.za/7reasons.
Now that Nyanda’s got his bed, I hope he can sleep in it at night.
Maggs
12:21
Yes, but you have to understand. Nyanda was having his custom made in China. Quality goods take time.
Well done Cde Carolus!
“SAA to institute action against Ngqula Comments
July 20, 2010
The board of SA Airways will institute action against its former CEO Khaya Ngqula who left the company in March 2009, chairwoman Cheryl Carolus said on Tuesday.
Steps would be taken to recover R27 million spent on retention bonuses for SAA employees under Ngqula, which was in excess of his authority, Carolus told media in Kempton Park.
The board would also seek to recover R3.3 million for the hiring of hospitality suites in various sports stadiums by Ngqula.
It would also institute action for at least R500 000 for free junkets Ngqula granted to friends.
“The law requires us to take every reasonable step to recover the money,” Carolus said. – Sapa”
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5562765
Pierre, the fact that you this so-called “Handbook” from the DA tells us all we need to know. This whole so-call “scandal” is nothing more or less than a DA white-liberal plot to delegitimise our ANC government.
Why does know one ask about the money spent by Madame Zille to finance her liberal harem, and on her tooth-whitening procedures?
And what about the untransformed white businessmen who stay in flash hotels in NY, London, Zurich etc on so-called business trips, all of which is deducted from taxes?
I have observed that none of the bloggers here take Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder seriously.
Is s/he for real?
Shock! Horror! Reapproachement between Pierre and the DA?
Terence says:
July 20, 2010 at 12:42 pm
“Nyanda was having his custom made in China.”
Eish, Terrence – not true!
The comrades would never dream of allowing imported products.
It’s not because that would cheese off Min Patel, but it’s just morally reprehensible.
Local is lekker!
Is this type of act not theft of public funds?
Can a SA citizen not lay a charge at the nearest police station?
@Dumisani: “I have observed that none of the bloggers here take Mikhail Dworkin Fassbinder seriously. Is s/he for real?”
Dumisani, you have observed correctly. Mr. Fassbinder is not to be taken seriously. He is a specialist in what some would call lampoonery, and those who read this blog on a regular basis always know in advance what he’s going to say. There are certain words which act as triggers to cause him to pop out of the woodwork. One of them is the word “liberal”, as well as variations thereof. Mention of “DA” and/or “Zille” also works a treat. You should try it sometime.
I recall Nyanda also scored a cheapie 4X4 ala Yengi during the arms deal.
Maggs Naidu – maggsnaidu@hotmail.com says:
July 20, 2010 at 15:03 pm
Terence says:
July 20, 2010 at 12:42 pm
“Nyanda was having his custom made in China.”
Eish, Terrence – not true!
The comrades would never dream of allowing imported products.
It’s not because that would cheese off Min Patel, but it’s just morally reprehensible.
Local is lekker!
===================================================
Maggs, you should try telling that to the labour force being laid off in Kuruman to be replaced by Chinese labour on the Chinese-owned mine.
@ Dumisani
Sadly, there are indeed some on this blog who prefer not to have their liberal convictions challenged. They tend to be of the same ilk as those who pursue a vendetta against Hlophe JP, obsess about governmental corruption while averting their eyes from the plunder perpetrated by white business, and whine tediously about affirmative action, BEE and crime.
Thanks.
“Some public officials in SA seem to have a different understanding of the official public service slogan ‘Batho Pele’ (people first) — they think it means ‘me first’.
SA’s challenge is not inadequate governance policies, but rather the lack of adherence to principles and the fickleness of enforcement.
When good governance is not enforced, public officials begin to see themselves as untouchable. They feel politically protected.”
http://www.fm.co.za/Article.aspx?id=114184
“Public officials are expected not to abuse public funds but to act ethically and to resist corruption.”
So says Ms Msomi.
Which planet does she come from?
Eish!
Samantha says:
July 20, 2010 at 16:10 pm
Hey Samantha,
Our Labour DG will probably get around to considering the Chinese labour issue soon – there are some pressing priorities to be attended to from that office, like advising developed world embassies on BEE.
hey Dumisani! … Dworky’s special brand of ultra-subtle finger-pulling lightens my day. I love his sarcasm.
Pierre, can you publish the handbook for the rest of us mushrooms?
I don’t put much faith in our new public prosecutor … she may be less inclined to blatant manipulation of facts/legalities than Mushwana, but she follows his devotion to tardiness, inch by inch.
Personally I think its time that more enlightened citizens/voters/taxpayers start actively employing class action techniques to hold an abusive government accountable, since voting obviously does not work (too many mushrooms)
How does class action work? How do I, as a taxpayer, institute legal action against a government that blatantly abuses my taxes? A blog on this topic would be extremely value-adding, Prof!
For those of you who asked me to publish the Ministerial Handbook: because it is a PDF file and more than 100 pages long, it is not technically possible to do so on the Blog. If you email I will send a copy.
Some perspective:The UK seems to have its own Schabir Shaik scandal brewing…. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/20/david-cameron-megrahi-papers-reviewed
Belle, in a fairly general way, I’m going to agree with you in that I’m also a fan of public interest litigation – although admittedly, I’ve got to say I’ve never heard of tax payers, as a class, seeking compensation from government for what I imagine would be some sort of delict. Regrettably, pursuing claims against government is not a sure-fire way to hold government accountable apparently regardless of which ANC administration happens to hold sway. That is, it’s certainly not unheard of for ANC figures to simply flout rulings. But that being said, at the very least, the relevant figure would (a) have to suffer having his or her answers scrutinised and (b) upon losing a dispute, face a court order – which is, at least for the time being, better than nothing.
Look the thing about our ministerial code (2007) is that it is a perks code. All it does is spell what travel, housing and so on benefits ministers are allowed. Other ministerial codes in OECD countries (we are an aspirant OECD country) use the code to spell out in which ways ministers should be accountable to the people they serve. We will get a new code in the fullness of time, but the current code is the perfect code for a country in which ministers serve themselves and not the electorate.
@ PdV
I hope the BP scandal of lobbying for release of a prisoner in exchange for oil rights will teach naive people like Samantha on this blog on how big business manipulates politicians.
Gwebecimele says:
July 21, 2010 at 9:49 am
Hey Gewbs,
Samantha has experience of how business manipulates politicians – the comment re Chinese labour at the Chinese owned mine at Kuruman is a clear example of that.
@ PdV
Can u unpack this for us?
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article559924.ece/Apartheid-law-repeal-just-Window-dressing
Where’s your email address, Pierre?
Why not post the handbook on your Documents of interest page?
Regarding the ANC government today one can say “Choose a government department or enterprise any department or enterprise and I you will show you corruption”
And as soon as the Protection of Information Bill becomes law we won’t be able to discuss it on this forum let alone do something about it.
PS Hats off to Cheryl Carolus for fingering Ngqula; may this be the start of great things to come!
@ abidam
Don’t forget the unions that started the whole matter. They are SELDOM credited for saving all of us from the greedy.
@ Gwebe
I agree. The unions, as powerful organs of civil society, serve as a valuable counterweight to governmental power.
I regret only that the unions have sometimes been co-opted by counter-revolutionary forces that invoke so-called corruption to attack our elected government. By doing so, unions lend support to liberals with distinct whitish tendencies.
@ Terence
“No accessories, furnishings or electrical appliances of any kind will be
imported specially for the performance of a particular service. The choice
of articles available has to be made from stocks available in South Africa.”
So the bed had to be bought locally.
@ Pierre,
“3.1.3. No allowance is payable to Members who prefer not to utilise a State-owned residence for official purposes at the seat of office.”
Does that mean that the Ministers have to pay the hotel costs?
And
“The Department of Public Works is responsible for the normal maintenance of Government property, which includes the grounds, residences, outbuildings, Government furnishings and accessories or equipment.”
Would this be a matter for the Public protector, if approached, to extract explanations from Public Works for the apparent tardiness and huge costs?
@maggs
The bed has to be bought from SA stocks (inventory) – ie it may and probably would have been imported in the first place.
@Pierre
I recall from my comm law and mercantile law days (the commerce students were routinely ridiculed by the law students during the common classes!) that a fundamental guiding principle in law is the concept of the “reasonable man (or woman)” approach.
Surely the same concept should apply here?
In my organisation, we are required to stay in 3 star hotels when on business, fly economy (class q if possible – the cheapest rate), provide receipts for all business expenses, and we have strict guidelines for meal expenses tips etc (R120 max for supper, R80 max for lunch).
The approach is one of “what is reasonable” and ensuring that the accomodation is roughly equivalent to or not worse than that which we experience at home.
Oh – and we are not allowed to accept any gifts, Golf days, soccer tickets etc – if we want to attend such events, we must pay our own way.
Serious breach of the above rules is grounds for disciplinary action and ultimately dismissal.
I fail to see why similar detailed rules cannot be developed and enforced for public servants, including Ministers.
The quanta that I mentioned also seem reasonable for a minister in my opinion.
Prof: Would you regard this as immoral?????????????????????????
Shacks outside luxury estate burned down July 22 2010 at 09:42AM
By Graeme Hosken Crime Reporter
Good enough to build and clean the “madam’s” multimillion rand home, but too poor to live outside the walls of a luxury Pretoria security estate, a Malawian family watched as Tshwane Metro Police torched their shack along with dozens of others.
The mom begged not to be identified for fear of being fired and losing the measly R50-a-week salary she is paid to clean her employer’s multimillion Woodhill Estate home.
The woman – a mother of three children, including a seven-month-old infant – described how she and her young family were getting ready to sleep on the streets.
“It is freezing. I don’t know what to do. I am scared my children will die,” she said.
Their crime: They, along with 400 other people, are an eyesore and destroy the property value of the residents living in five luxury housing estates around their little community of migrant workers and illegal immigrants, known as “Cemetery Estate”.
The “estate” is on council land between the Pretoria East Cemetery and Woodlands Boulevard shopping centre.
Close by, are the multimillion rand Woodhill, Mooikloof, MeadowGlen, MeadowRidge and Hillside security estates.
Accused of being illegal immigrants and of being behind the area’s apparently skyrocketing crime rate, many “Cemetery Estate” residents worked as cleaners in the luxury homes on the posh estates.
That was until Wednesday when metro police, on the orders of lawyers representing those living in the estates, burnt down their shacks and ordered them to leave the Pretoria East area.
Using a court order from 2008 to control the occupation of council land along Garstfontein Road, the estates’ lawyers on Wednesday demanded that police destroy the 50 or so shacks in “Cemetery Estate”.
Within less than 24 hours of an “eviction notice” being served on “Cemetery Estate” residents, heavily armed metro police, guarded by the Garsfontein SAPS, oversaw the shacks’ destruction – torn down with spades and crowbars.
Plastic sheeting, cardboard partitions and wooden planks were dragged into piles and torched.
While city and law enforcement authorities have accused those living in “Cemetery Estate” of being illegal immigrants and criminals, no one was arrested or held for deportation.
A “slip-up” saw metro police failing to notify Home Affairs officers about illegal immigrants living in the area, or alerting the council’s housing and social services departments about the need for alternative accommodation.
Asked why no one was arrested, police said they didn’t have time to check fingerprints.
The Malawian mother, a qualified teacher whose husband was paid R600 a month to build her ‘madam’s’ multimillion rand house, said: “We can work inside the estates, but can’t live next door.
“Council does this because we are poor and our ‘madams’ are rich; because we have plastic roofs and paraffin stoves and they have tiles and electricity,” she said.
Mariza Oelofse, representing residents from the luxury estates, said: “We were approached by our clients to have these squatters removed. We went to the council and requested they adhere to the court order and remove these people, which is what they did.
“We are satisfied with the way the city responded.”
Oelofse said the land could not be occupied because it was agricultural land and a nature conservancy. “Highly endangered plant and animal species have been decimated because these people have eaten them and polluted the Moreleta Spruit with human waste.
“There are strict regulations regarding land occupation. Our clients have expensive rates and people can’t just stay here.”
Asked where the people should stay, Oelofse said: “It is not our concern.”
Metro police spokeswoman Alta Fourie said the informal residents posed a “serious” problem, especially regarding crime.
“Housebreakings, breaking into cars, rape, and smash-and-grab attacks have increased, mostly because of these illegal immigrants,” she said.
Asked for the crime statistics and why no one was arrested, Fourie referred the Pretoria News to the SAPS whose spokeswoman, Aveline Hardaker, referred the newspaper back to Fourie.
Fourie said residents were given 24 hours to move. “We told them we would destroy their shacks if they didn’t move, which is what happened. It is now their responsibility to relocate and find their own accommodation,” she said.
Attorney Louise du Plessis, representing “Cemetery Estate” residents, said the court order was not against her clients.
“There is no court order on that property. The existing court order says the municipality must bring an application to have the people evicted, which it has not done. This order is not an eviction notice and the council’s actions are criminal.
“Evictions can’t happen by torching people’s property. This is a declaration of war by the city on civil society and homeless people and we will now see them in court,” she said.
Mark Napier, of Urban Landmark, said regardless of whether there was a court order or not, the city had to find alternative accommodation for evicted people.
He said: “Virtually all cities’ policy statements, including Tshwane, talk of integration of poorer people into the city. But, as soon as a real opportunity arises, the city listens to the wealthier residents and evicts the poorer residents.”
Asked to comment, council spokeswoman Dikeledi Phiri, said: “I can’t respond… due to the unavailability of key officials in the housing department.”
BY THE WAY SEE HOW THE ARTCLE IS WRITTEN:
“Accused of being illegal immigrants and of being behind the area’s apparently skyrocketing crime rate”
“While city and law enforcement authorities have accused those living in “Cemetery Estate” of being illegal immigrants and criminals, no one was arrested or held for deportation”.
“Housebreakings, breaking into cars, rape, and smash-and-grab attacks have increased, mostly because of these illegal immigrants,” she said.
AND WE WONDER WHERE ALL THE XENOPHOBIA IS COMING FROM.
I do not believe for one minute that this ex-Malawian teacher is being paid R50 a week. For an experienced journalist like Graeme Hosken to include such a statement defies belief, too.
I question his motives. This is the kind of story that ought to go to the Ombudsman.
@ Brett
Do you support Media Tribunal?
No, I support Tribulations for the Media not the Media Tribunal.
The Press Ombudsman is part of the media’s attempt at self-regulation. In practice, he wants to do as little as possible and is biased to boot.
AUDITORS connected to Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda’s family business were paid to investigate an official at his department.
The official was subsequently fired.
Nyanda also revealed yesterday that his department had spent about R500,000 on firing chief director of human resources Basani Baloyi. …
Earlier this month City Press reported that Ntumba Incorporated was also auditing the books of Sentech – the government’s broadcast signal distributor, which comes under the ministry’s control.
According to the report, Ntumba Incorporated authorised six payments from Sentech of more than R1 million to “themselves and a board member who hired them”.
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2010/08/31/r500000-spent-to-fire-aide-nyanda-reveals