Question NW372 to the Minister of Social Development

Reply:

The last time the Department purchased official vehicles for both the Deputy Minister and the Minister was in 2009 after their appointment in their respective positions. The purchase of official vehicles for political principals is guided by the prescripts and regulations of the National Treasury concerning vehicle fleet replacement and are also clearly stipulated in the Ministerial Handbook.

In terms of the aforementioned prescripts, Departments may purchase official vehicle/s directly from manufacturers and/or their dealerships only when the currently provided official vehicle for that office has reached 120 000 km or 5 years, whichever comes first. The Ministerial Handbook clearly states in Chapter 5 No 1.2.1:

Members at national level may be provided with one vehicle for use in Cape Town and one vehicle for use in Pretoria. The total purchase price of the vehicle may not exceed 70% of the inclusive annual remuneration package of a Minister as may be amended from time to time on recommendation of the Commission for the Remuneration of Political Members

The official Pretoria based vehicles allocated to the Minister and the Deputy Minister in 2009 have far exceeded the prescribed 120 000 km and the five year period. The Minister’s vehicle reached 161 523 km and the Deputy Minister’s vehicle 143 652 km. As such the purchase of new official vehicles became unavoidable and needed replacement due to high maintenance costs and security reasons.

One official vehicle in Cape Town has also far exceeded the prescribed 120 000 km (151 062 km for the Minister) and the five-year period. In compliance with the National Treasury’s cost containment measures, the Department has delayed the purchase of official vehicles for Cape Town. Although the money for the purchase of the new official vehicles for the Deputy Minister and Minister was budgeted for in the 2014/15 financial year, the following official vehicles were only purchased in the 2016/2017 financial year.

	( a) Make	(b ) Model	(c ) Price	(d ) Date on which the vehicle was purchased
(i)Minister
(aaa) 2014-15	-	-	-	-
(bbb) 2015-16	-	-	-	-
(bb) since 01 April 2016	BMW	B 7A22 740l	R1 302 525	13.10.2016
(ii) Deputy Minister
(aaa) 2014-15	-	-	-	-
(bbb) 2015-16	-	-	-
(bb) since 01 April 2016	Jeep Grand Cherokkee	HEMI SRT8 6.4L	R1 161 687	25.07.2016