The Sunday Times reported that Sicelo Shiceka Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs spent R640 000 in one year on rooms for himself and staff at the One & Only hotel in Cape Town, flew to Switzerland first class to visit a girlfriend in jail and hired a limousine to drive him to the prison.
The newspaper said the trip to Bern cost the taxpayer R367 000 in total, and Shiceka had passed it off as official business related to the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Shiceka has claimed that the Sunday Times based the story on fabricated documents. However, he admitted to spending over R55 000 for one night at the One & Only.
"What is wrong with that? Every other hotel was full," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Queen Thomo was reburied at a Cato Manor memorial site earmarked for the development of a R300-million cultural museum and heritage centre.
The area is where she is believed to have spent her last days, and the reburial is believed to have cost the city about R1.5-million.
eThekwini municipality spokesman Thembinkosi Ngcobo said the cost was justified as the project would benefit the community and promote the Zulu nation, the SABC reported.
There is definitely an elephant in the room; the way that government officials and departments are using money for unjustifiable reasons is constantly being overlooked. A minister responsible for the professional administration of local government and to fight against inappropriate use of state funds is the one leading in using state funds irresponsibly to his personal gain.
The Queen mother’s reburial of R300 million is unjustifiable and does not build any nation. It would be better if that money was used to build houses or any other need that the people of Cator Manor have. There are so many poor people in need but yet our politicians squander money and are not considerate of the people who voted them in.
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