Cabinet ministers have racked up more than R273m in travel costs since the start of the seventh administration, a 10-fold increase that belies Pretoria’s austerity narrative and points to its expanding diplomatic engagements in a fractured global order.
This escalation eclipses any previous surge in post-apartheid government, departmental disclosures and ministerial replies reveal.
It exposes a deeper contradiction at the heart of the government of national unity (GNU), which preaches fiscal restraint while dispatching ministers abroad to secure influence and diplomatic leverage in a fragmented global order marked by a volley of tariffs and weakened multilateral institutions.
While the ministerial handbook outlines entitlements in service of constitutional duty, its opaque structure and unilateral amenability have made it a lightning rod for criticism, especially as needed executive travel morphs into spectacle.
When the DA published a benchmark costing of the handbook in 2023, it estimated total annual expenditure at R940m — excluding ministerial salaries and the capital value of 97 state-owned residences. The breakdown included R20m for international travel. Since then, the cost of travel-related benefits alone has risen more than R250m.
According to ActionSA’s GNU tracker, compiled solely from ministerial replies submitted in two disclosure cycles, ministers have spent R273m on travel, accommodation, stipends and related costs since July 2024, covering both domestic and international trips. The tracker excludes salaries and capital assets and is updated continuously.
This includes trips by deputy president Paul Mashatile, who spent R2m on accommodation in London and R900,000 in Japan, accompanied by his spouse. Ministers Gayton McKenzie and Dion George have each undertaken 11 international trips, with George’s weeklong visit to the UN General Assembly in New York costing R1.1m, excluding staff expenses.
Ministerial delegations to China and the US intensified, reflecting Pretoria’s chase for diplomatic relevance amid global realignment. Last October, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to Beijing, flanked by a cluster of ministers, secured bilateral infrastructure agreements aimed at deepening economic ties with the East.
By May the diplomatic pendulum had swung westward, as Ramaphosa and four ministers landed in Washington to repair diplomatic fallout.
The handbook permits business-class travel, 30 domestic flights per year for ministers and their spouses, and full coverage of hotels, meals and VIP lounge access. International travel is permitted for essential diplomatic and multilateral engagements, but the frequency and cost of these trips have expanded under the GNU.
All international travel must be approved in advance by the president, a centralised process intended to ensure alignment with national priorities and diplomatic protocols. However, the surge in travel-related costs has the potential to raise questions about the criteria used for approval and whether sufficient scrutiny is being applied to the necessity, frequency and value of each trip.
Updated departmental disclosures show a confirmed spend of R273m on executive travel-related benefits in the past financial year. The department of international relations & co-operation spent R23.75m, human settlements R20.7m, water & sanitation R16.87m, co-operative governance R16.19m, forestry, fisheries & environment R15.31m and finance R15.62m.
The presidency, higher education, defence, trade, industry & competition, home affairs and energy each reported costs exceeding R8m.
Unconfirmed expenditure includes land reform & rural development and social development, which failed to provide responses, and the presidency.
The total annual cost of ministerial handbook entitlements is now estimated at R1.5bn, including R450m for support staff (up from R387m), R273m for travel (up from R20.3m), R10m for vehicles (up from R6.2m), and R356m for utilities and residential maintenance (up from R14.5m for utilities alone).
This figure excludes salaries for ministers and deputy ministers, which amount to an additional R144m annually. This marks a cumulative increase of more than R560m from the 2023 benchmark.
The VIP protection allocation remains at R500m, but this figure is likely understated given the expanded cabinet and confirmed R1.31bn spend over five years.
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