Taxpayers cough up another R570k 5-star Nathi bill
Johannesburg - Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa has racked up another five-star hotel bill, this time worth over R570 000 in Durban, the Sunday Independent reported.
Between December 19 and April 25, Mthethwa was intermittently booked into the luxurious Hilton Hotel along with members of his VIP Protection Unit at a cost of R578 499.
His spokesperson Zweli Mnisi did not comment on the figure, saying only that Mthethwa was in KwaZulu-Natal around December on "official duties", partaking in roadshows aimed at reducing festive season crime. His stay there during April was due to the national elections.
"The province was identified as a potential hot spot. All these were official programmes aimed at engaging local stakeholders in the fight against crime, including consultation with local authorities as part of preparation for the elections," he said in a statement.
'Unaware' of high prices
According to the Sunday Independent's copy of the bill Mthethwa spent Christmas and New Year at the hotel. During an uninterrupted 17-day stay from December 19, he was not accompanied by any guards and the bill came to just over R86 000.
On the night before Valentine's Day, Mthethwa was booked into the same hotel, this time with four guards, at a cost of R38 516.
From April 19 to 25, he stayed at the hotel with two guards. The bill amounted to R89 000.
The Hilton bill was double what taxpayers coughed up for Mthethwa's 17-day stay in Cape Town's five-star Table Bay Hotel earlier this year. Mthethwa stayed at the hotel at a cost of R235 000 while his home was being renovated after flood damage.
Mnisi said the minister claimed at the time he was unaware of the high prices charged by the Cape Town hotel.
Opposition political parties reacted with anger to Mthethwa's latest "extravagance".
Luxury indulgences
The Congress of the People said Mthethwa either was campaigning for the ANC or simply went home and billed the government.
"This gives lie to his explanation that he did not know that the Table Bay Hotel was expensive and appeared to cement a view that he has a cavalier attitude towards taxpayers' money," Cope first deputy president Mbhazima Shilowa was quoted as saying.
The DA said the police department's long list of luxury indulgences did not only contradict President Jacob Zuma 's calls for austerity and prudence, but flew in the face of common sense and commitment to put the public before personal gratification.
"If one adds up the hotel extravagance to the cars bought by Mthethwa and his deputy, Fikile Mbalula, it goes up to over R3.7 million of public money being spent on person opulence," shadow minister of police Dianne Kohler Barnard said in a statement.
She asked how Mthethwa would justify his behaviour while police officers who often put their lives at risk earned next to nothing each month.
- SAPA
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