Parties oppose R240 million set aside for GNU Cabinet

Government is set to spent R240 million in salaries to foot the bill for the new Ministers and Deputy Ministers under the Government of National Unity (GNU).

These remuneration benefits for cabinet members will include costs such as VIP protection and housing allowances for the 2025/2026 financial year.

Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, disclosed this in a reply to a Parliamentary question posed by ActionSA.

ActionSA MP, Alan Beesley, described the response by the minister as scandalous.

“ As ActionSA, we think the R240 million pay for the bloated cabinet is totally unacceptable and in fact, we are actually saying it’s scandalous. In our country, we have got children who are going to bed without food. We’ve got schools with pit latrines, and we can spend such a large amount on a bloated cabinet. It’s just totally unacceptable. And all these new ministers and deputy ministers who have been accommodated in this bloated cabinet, they should hang their heads in shame. It’s a total disgrace and, as ActionSA, we are of the view that the cabinet should be a maximum of 20 in size with no deputies,” says Beesley.

VIDEO| There has been criticism over the number of people in the cabinet.

The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) says the R240 million price tag is a waste of taxpayers’ money.

“Whilst the ACDP appreciates that there are a number of political parties that needed to be accommodated in the GNU, we are concerned about the R240 million costs for the ministers and their deputies. Government is facing severe financial constraints which resulted in budget cuts in all departments, severely impacting our teachers, policemen and health workers, soldiers and all other public servants. It is clear that the country cannot afford such a bloated cabinet with its related costs. The ACDP believes that government departments should be restructured to ensure efficiency and better service delivery. This will also reduce the number of ministers and deputy ministers and will save costs significantly,” says ACDP MP Steve Swart.