ActionSA has criticised the culture of executive indulgence in the government of national unity (GNU) after cabinet ministers spent nearly half a billion rand on travel and accommodation expenses in their first 18 months of office.
In a statement on Sunday, ActionSA MP Alan Beesley said the ministers racked up nearly R450m, and the figure was set to balloon beyond R500m as outstanding parliamentary replies were finalised.
The biggest-splurging departments include human settlements (under minister Thembi Simelane) at R32.9m; Pemmy Majodina’s water & sanitation department at R29.5m; Sindisiwe Chikunga’s women, youth & people with disabilities at R25.2m; forestry, fisheries & environment (under fired DA minister Dion George) at R24.4m; and the presidency at R24.1m.
Trade, industry & competition minister Parks Tau’s office spent R2.1m on three nights in New York in September 2024, followed by a further R1.5m for a one-week trip to Washington, DC, in July 2024, said Beesley.
Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi incurred R2.7m for a seven-night visit to New York in September 2025, alongside R1.33m for two days in Brazil and R1.1m for a one-week trip to the UK.
Since assuming office, Chikunga had spent nearly R5m on international air tickets alone.
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“This spending, compiled through ActionSA’s GNU performance tracker and based on replies to parliamentary questions, paints a damning picture of executive indulgence,” Beesley said. “At a time of deep economic crisis, with 12-million South Africans unemployed and essential public services severely lacking, this level of spending reflects an alarming profligacy and an out-of-touch misuse of taxpayer funds.”
Beesley said evasiveness in the responses to ActionSA’s parliamentary questions “reveals a consistent pattern of disregard within the cabinet for parliament’s constitutional oversight role and the public’s right to transparency”. He said:
• The minister in the presidency withheld travel cost details by invoking vague and unjustified security considerations.
• Deputy president Paul Mashatile declined to provide updated figures after ActionSA exposed the cost of his Japan trip, which included more than R900,000 for four nights of hotel accommodation.
• Public works minister Dean Macpherson and communications & digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi allowed questions to lapse by failing to submit updated travel expense information, while agriculture minister John Steenhuisen and basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube evaded accountability by providing “weak excuses about administrative capacity constraints”.
• Rural development minister Mzwanele Nyhontso took an extraordinary 11 months to submit a response that remained incomplete.
• Sport, arts & culture minister Gayton McKenzie delayed nearly six months before publicly deriding as “sadistic” expectations that ministers should travel in a manner consistent with the circumstances of the people they serve.
“It is precisely this culture of executive waste and evasiveness that ActionSA seeks to end. That is why we have introduced the Enhanced Cut Cabinet Perks Bill, designed to rein in the extravagant perks enjoyed by ministers,” Beesley said.
“In addition, our Constitutional Amendment Bill proposes the complete abolition of all 32 deputy minister positions, an outdated and wasteful layer of government that South Africa simply cannot afford.
“South Africans deserve leadership that puts people before perks and not a R450m travel spree by the world’s largest cabinet. ActionSA will not allow the political elite to hide behind bureaucracy and live in luxury while South Africans struggle. We will continue to expose waste, demand accountability and fight for an ethical government that respects every cent of the people’s money.”
It emerged from a parliamentary reply by the presidency that President Cyril Ramaphosa received 441 requests by ministers and 279 by deputy ministers for travel abroad in the period from July 2024 to October 2025.
