A Staggering R800,000+ Blown on ‘Intercontinental Shopping Trips’ for Norma Gigaba by National Treasury

Almost R1 million was allegedly spent on foreign travel trips for the wife of former South African Finance Minister, Malusi Gigaba… according to DA Shadow Minister of Finance, David Maynier.

Maynier said in a press statement Thursday morning that while Gigaba was responsible for the implementation of cost containment measures in SA, and should have been setting an example when it came to belt-tightening, he was in fact spending a fortune on his wife’s travels.

Citing a written reply in the National Assembly, Maynier said it showed that “a staggering R873,366.68 was blown on international travel for the minister’s spouse, Norma Gigaba, who accompanied [her husband] on investor roadshows to the financial capitals of the world inter alia in China, the United Kingdom and the United States.”

It seems while Gigaba was regularly calling for greater efficiency in the use of public funds, he was himself using them inefficiently.

Maynier added: “The fact is Norma Gigaba had no official duties on the investor roadshows and taxpayers, who have been pushed to the limit by tax increases, should never have had to cough up for what were, in reality, a series of intercontinental shopping trips.”

He concluded that “even if the expenses are in line with the guidelines set out in the Ministerial Handbook it was simply wrong and the minister should do the right thing and “pay back the money” to National Treasury.”