Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

3min read
19 October 2022 | 9:30 am CAT

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for the withdrawal of the amendments to the ministerial handbook.

This follows outrage after it emerged that ministers and deputy ministers who earn millions a year did not have to pay for electricity or water after the president amended the ministerial handbook in April this year.

Speaking to Radio Islam International, Democratic Alliance (DA) Dr Leon Schreiber says this is a victory for the DA and the people of South Africa.

“In the first instance, the DA – this is something that we have exposed over the past few weeks after the president secretly introduced these amendments to the ministerial handbook back in April,” he says.

The opposition party says the amendments will have taxpayers pay for ministers’ private officers and utilities worth millions.

“It is only because of the DA and the public pressure that we have managed to force him [Ramaphosa] to undo these changes,” says Schreiber.

The DA argues that the president should not be given the authority to sign off perks for the ministers without public or parliament knowledge.

“What we want to do is actually take the power away from the president and actually give it to parliament because we believe parliament is the correct forum,” says Schreiber.

The DA has requested the Public Protector to investigate the complaint.

Listen to the full interview here: