After nationwide outrage, President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the scrapping of the controversial changes to the 2022 Ministerial Handbook, which allowed his high-earning Cabinet ministers to freeload on electricity, rent and water.
AFTER nationwide outrage, President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the scrapping of the controversial changes to the 2022 Ministerial Handbook, which allowed his high-earning Cabinet ministers to freeload on electricity, rent and water.
Ramaphosa, through his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, addressed the media after his return from a presidential business visit to the United Arab Emirates at the weekend.
Ramaphosa this year signed a 2022 version of the Ministerial Handbook in April, which replaced a more austere 2019 version that was lauded at the time.
The 2022 version sparked outrage and the DA called for the scrapping of the Ministerial Handbook in its entirety, while the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) chief executive, Wayne Duvenage, and the South African Federation of Trade Unions general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, labelled the 2022 amendments “disgusting”.
“Onto a topical issue of the Ministerial Handbook, President Ramaphosa has ordered the withdrawal process of the presidential minute on the executive members’ guide commonly known as the Ministerial Handbook for 2022,” Magwenya said.
“The withdrawal will give effect to the 2019 version of the executive guide pending a review.
“President Ramaphosa acknowledges and appreciates the public sentiments on the matter. However, the impression created that the amendments were created in secrecy and to avoid public scrutiny is false.”
Magwenya called the DA’s threat to march to Bryntirion Estate in Pretoria, where the president most of his Cabinet members’ state residences are situated, “unnecessarily dramatic”.
He said Ramaphosa had “listened”, “appreciates the public outcry” and is “heartened” by active citizenry. Magwenya said the amendment was “not nefarious”.
Touching on the unions and Transnet’s wage deadlock, Magwenya said Ramaphosa was being constantly briefed on the developments related to the ports strike.
“There is a team of ministers working together in accelerating the resolution to the strike. Since Sunday, there were daily meetings with a business forum that has been established for information-sharing purposes,” he said.
He said ministers were engaging with the unions.
“Really, the focus is on finding a settlement urgently, avoid the impact on the rest of the economy and jobs losses, and to ensure there is adherence to picketing rules and no damage to assets.
“You call it an ‘impasse’, I will call it a process that’s currently under way that the president would like to see accelerated,” Magwenya said.
He said Ramaphosa was aware of an updated settlement.
“The impact on the economy is devastating, as you know. We want to avoid scenarios such as fuel… We already have enough pressure on the economy with load shedding and other issues,” Magwenya said.
Without elaborating, he said a social compact process was ongoing, but there were “several sticking points” that have halted it.
On Eskom, Magwenya said: “The board is well aware of its mandate (and) the scale and magnitude of the crisis that the country faces, with respect to maintaining a reliable energy supply.”
Ramaphosa once again expressed confidence in beleaguered Eskom chief André de Ruyter.
Duvenage meanwhile welcomed the U-turn and said civil society was unsure of the extent of the changes Ramaphosa had made.
“We want to know why there was no public participation and why Parliament had no say in this issue. It’s interesting to see political parties objecting now after the media put it out there,” Duvenage remarked.
DA MP Dr Leon Schreiber, who doubles as the party’s spokesperson on public service and administration, described Ramaphosa’s withdrawal as “a famous victory against ANC cadre corruption and for the people of South Africa”.
The DA on Monday morning held a media briefing, where they gave Ramaphosa an ultimatum: scrap the Handbook or the DA would protest at Bryntirion Estate.
Schreiber said he would continue to pursue the complaint opened with the public protector in relation to the Ministerial Handbook last week.
He said the DA “is challenging ANC cadre deployment corruption in court”, and has defeated Ramaphosa’s “secret and sinister plan for more perks for his Cabinet cadres”.
Magwenya said there would be frequent engagements with media on the issue.
