Business class flights and R346,000 a night hotel rooms for South African politicians using taxpayer money

Deputy President Paul Mashatile and Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie said it is justified to spend millions of taxpayers’ money on international trips.

The high costs of ministers’ international travel were revealed in a series of parliamentary questions and answers.

The responses revealed that Deputy President Paul Mashatile spent R346,000 per night on accommodation in London for himself and his spouse, Humile Mashatile.

This formed part of a working visit to Ireland and the United Kingdom from 26 September to 4 October 2024, which cost taxpayers R5.475 million.

He further revealed that he spent R956,057 for the four-night stay on a working visit to Japan, which equates to R239,000 per night.

The whole Japan trip for Mashatile’s delegation, excluding the other ministers, cost R2.3 million. It included flights, accommodation, ground transport, and restaurant services.

Last month, MP Alan Beesley asked the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture how much he spent on official travel since joining South Africa’s cabinet.

McKenzie said that since his appointment on 3 July 2024 by President Cyril Ramaphosa, he has taken 11 international round trips.

The total cost of flights and accommodation incurred through the travel agent for these trips was R2.5 million.

Deputy Minister Peace Mabe, over the same period, has been on trips with a total available cost of R1.2 million.

“It must be noted that the information regarding the Deputy Minister’s travel provided by the travel agent is currently incomplete,” McKenzie said.

“My office has taken up with this service provider, despite them having several months to provide us with the accurate data.”

He stated that he was aware that the Deputy Minister had travelled to Los Angeles in February 2025 to attend the Grammy Awards. No details were provided about the cost of this trip.

“We also lack relevant data at the moment regarding her trip to Algeria to attend the Creative Africa Nexus,” he said.

Mashatile and McKenzie justify the high travel costs

In separate responses about the high travel costs, Mashatile and McKenzie justified spending millions on luxury international travel.

Mashatile told City Press that travelling internationally was essential to develop new markets for South Africa.

“We have decided that we need to expand. We must tighten our bilateral relations and trade with Europe,” he said.

He said these partnerships have the potential to yield billions in trade and other benefits for South Africa.

“Some people are not interested in the trade relations. They want to know how much we spend on transport, what we ate, and where we slept,” he said.

He said those are peripheral issues. “The main issue is trade and ensuring that the South African economy grows,” he said.

“We will give information about these travels, because they are important. It is going to be difficult not to spend money.”

He added that Tokyo and Paris are very expensive cities, which is why their travel expenses were so high.

“If we don’t spend money on these initiatives, we will not see the South African economy grow as we cannot reach out to investors,” he said.

Mashatile added that he does not charter planes on his international trips, as it would be very costly. Instead, he flies commercial.

McKenzie explained that official trips are work, not holidays or joyrides, as often seems to be portrayed in the media.

“These trips can be exhausting. They are an essential part of a job performed by people who are working hard and very long hours in service to their country,” he said.

“I trust that this would also put in context the need to fly in business class for longer hauls,” the Sports Minister explained.

He said there is never a moment to recover after these flights, and one must be ready to attend the first meeting, sometimes within the first hour of arrival.

He added that expecting ministers and professionals in government to travel in economy class is impractical and even sadistic.

“We would certainly not be effective or efficient after such flights, which would self-defeat the point of travelling in the first place,” he said.

“Additionally, it would make officials, diplomats and executive members even more vulnerable to illness than they already are from undertaking these trips.”