How much did Bheki Cele’s luxury trip to Paris cost?

Here is what everyone wants to know: what was the cost of Minister Bheki Cele’s luxury trip to Paris?

Details of his luxurious trip to Paris have emerged following a request for documentation under the PAIA (Promotion of Access to Information Act).

The trip, ostensibly to attend the Rugby World Cup in October 2023, has sparked controversy over the extravagant use of taxpayer funds.

CELE HAS MAINTAINED THAT TAXPAYERS DID NOT FOOT THE BILL FOR HIS TRIP

Cele last year said the taxpayers did not foot the bill for his travel and accommodation. He said a private company invited him to attend the Rugby World Cup.

He said the private company fully funded the trip.

Cele did not name the private company that paid for his trip and accommodation overseas.

DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Police Okkie Terblanche said notwithstanding the Minister’s vehement denials of the allegations that he contravened the Executive Ethics Code, his response raises serious questions about the state of fiscal responsibility in his office and how the Ministry is spending taxpayer funds.

WHAT WAS REVEALED ABOUT CELE’S TRIP TO PARIS?

Here is what was REVEALED:

• The Minister and his wife were accompanied on their flight to Charles de Gaul airport by his executive assistant, who was treated with a business class seat. The total taxpayer contribution to his assistant’s flights was a jaw-dropping R184,528.43.
• The Minister, his wife and his assistant was accommodated at the Marriott Hotel, complete with a view of the Arc de Triomphe and situated just a stone’s throw away from the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. An idyllic retreat at a public cost of R20,553.50 per person, per night – totalling a staggering R82,789.00 for the assistant’s four nights in Paris.
• All three travellers were also allocated a daily “subsistence allowance”. The Ministerial couple received R2,593.00 each and the executive assistant received R2,357.00, all at a total taxpayer cost of R46,258.00.
• The public purse also sponsored all three attendees’ medical and travel insurance at a total cost of R7,710.00, together with an allocation for “unforeseen expenditure” of R5,000.00.
• To top it all off, South Africans made sure that the trio would travel through Paris in style, gifting an allocation of R167,680.50 for VIP Services at Charles de Gaul Airport, inclusive of “fast track immigration” and an airport transfer in a Mercedes E-Class.

‘SA CANNOT AFFORD A SPENDTHRIFT MINISTER..’

“With crime rates on the rise, the SAPS understaffed and under-resourced, and gangsters infiltrating the upper echelons of SAPS management, South Africans simply cannot afford a spendthrift Minister of Police who doesn’t bat an eye at spending more than a quarter of a million rand on his executive assistant’s travel and accommodation alone.”- Okkie Terblanch said.

THIS COMES WEEKS AFTER CELE’S HELICOPTER STUNT AT THE ANC MANIFESTO

This comes weeks after the police defended Cele’s helicopter stunt at the ANC manifesto, saying it was business as normal.

In a statement, police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the SAPS chopper, just like any other major event, was deployed to this event to monitor the large crowds.

But oddly enough, Cele did not do the same at the recently held EFF manifesto or the DA manifesto… both major events as thousands of supporters gathered.

This begs the question of why special attention is given to only one political party.

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