Parly to examine MPs travel claims
2010-09-03 17:05
Cape Town - The matter of MPs choosing to drive rather than fly between Parliament and their constituencies will be examined at a meeting of the multi-party Parliamentary Oversight Authority (POA) next week, Secretary to Parliament Zingile Dingani said on Friday.
Responding to a question during a media briefing at Parliament, he said that should the POA deem it necessary, "some of the rules" in this regard might need to be reviewed.
On Wednesday this week, Dingani disclosed figures showing travel and accommodation expenses paid to MPs for motor vehicle journeys undertaken during the 2009/10 financial year.
According to the document, some politicians were paid well over R200 000 for road trips - from Parliament to their homes and back - between April 1 2009 and March 31 this year.
One Democratic Alliance MP, Manie van Dyk, completed 50 road trips between Parliament and Gauteng over the 12-month period, and was paid a total of R275 512.85 for his many hours behind the wheel.
In a statement on Thursday, his party said he would be invited to appear before its Federal Legal Commission to give a full explanation.
Dingani's release of the travel information followed an almost year-long battle by Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille to secure it.
'Tighten the rules'
At a press conference on Thursday, De Lille called for a tightening of the rules governing claims for road trip expenses, saying some MPs were opting to drive "just so that they can claim more money than if they were to fly".
A return flight between Cape Town and Johannesburg might cost between R5 000 and R6 000, but an MP's decision to drive there and back cost the taxpayer about R12 000.
De Lille further called on political parties to monitor their members' travel claims.
Dingani on Friday said the question of MPs driving rather than flying was a "tricky" one.
Some MPs chose to drive from Parliament to their constituencies because they needed to visit far-flung communities, or had been deployed to far-away areas by their party.
Dingani said he had looked at the figures and found "nothing untoward", but conceded that, seen in isolation, some of the figures did not look good.
"If you look at the figures, in the context of the work of the member of Parliament, and the areas that member... has travelled to (and) the work done... then you begin to understand the figures.
"But if you lift out that figure and put it alone - in the eyes of the public, it might give the impression and the perception that there is something wrong that member of Parliament is doing."
Parliament would have to examine the situation.
"These figures are going to be tabled to the Parliamentary Oversight Authority when it meets on September 8, and the authority will have to express itself on all of these matters.
"And if needs be, Parliament will have to review some of the rules.
"But, indeed, my own sense would be that Parliament would have to do so, being mindful of the need for (MPs) to travel and keep continued links with their constituencies," Dingani said.
- SAPA