When a presidential suite is not good enough for our deputy president

I got angry this week. The type of anger that makes you swear out loud and leads to snapping heads looking at you.

It happened while reading a News24 article detailing Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s recent R2.3 million, four-day trip to Japan. Not because diplomatic relations don’t matter – they do – but because it laid bare just how utterly disconnected South Africa’s political leadership has become from the economic realities of the people they claim to serve.

Read:

This trip followed the farcical evolution of the national budget, where Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana first tabled a budget proposing a two-percentage-point Vat hike and no cost-cutting because “austerity doesn’t work”.

Godongwana eventually presented a third iteration without the Vat hike and without any meaningful austerity.

This will lead to higher debt that our children will one day have to repay – but trips like these emphasise that there are places where politicians can save money.

These amounts may not be significant in the grand scheme of national expenditure, but they matter. They show whether politicians are willing to lead by example, to spend cautiously out of respect for those who pay tax – and a lot of it – without getting the same value in return.

(By the way, kudos to ActionSA chief whip Lerato Ngobeni, whose parliamentary question to Mashatile’s office resulted in the disclosure of this information.)

For those who missed the story …

Mashatile, his wife, and eight supporting staff travelled to Japan from 16 to 19 March. The visit was framed as a high-level working trip to strengthen political and economic ties. Fine. A few speeches, business engagements, and ceremonial handshakes.

But it came at an extravagant cost.

The four-day trip cost taxpayers R2.3 million; the Mashatiles alone accounted for more than R1.34 million – nearly 60% of the total bill.

R956 000 for a hotel room?

While reading the News24 report, I kept asking: Where do you stay for nearly a million rand over four nights?

In what hotel would that be?

I started to Google. And I found it pretty challenging – even at some of the world’s most well-known high-end hotel chains.

The Hilton Tokyo?

At the Hilton Tokyo in upmarket Shinjuku, the cheapest room is about R5 400 a night. Its most expensive suite, the 66m² King Tower Executive, costs R13 429 a night.

But that price includes a king-sized bed, panoramic skyline views, an espresso machine, a complimentary minibar, deluxe toiletries, a high-end hairdryer (for all those diplomatic blowouts), and access to the 37th-floor executive lounge. It also includes breakfasts and cocktails.

Four nights in this executive suite room would set you (read: taxpayers) back R53 718.

The Grand Hyatt Tokyo?

Not plush enough? Just down the road at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, the 260m² Presidential Suite offers a private heated pool, a zen garden, a dining room for eight, two king-sized beds, a walk-in wardrobe, and a bathroom with a head massaging whirlpool tub and rain shower.

All this luxury for R184 964 a night – or R739 858 for four nights.

But even that wasn’t good enough for our deputy president.

We don’t know, but …

It is unknown where the Mashatiles laid down their heads, but it cost taxpayers R239 014 a night or R956 057 for four nights – R220 000 more than the finest the Grand Hyatt could offer. Was gold leaf on the pillows extra?

Either he stayed at an unnecessarily exclusive boutique hotel, or a service provider inflated the price.

And if it wasn’t financial corruption – increasingly synonymous with ANC leadership – then it was moral corruption of the highest order.

To put the R956 000 the deputy president and his wife spent in four days into perspective:

• It could cover the yearly salary of six nurses
• Fund 40 full National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) bursaries
• Buy three mid-sized township homes, or
• Feed a family of four for over five years.

The only positive is that ANC supporters increasingly recognise the disconnection between their leaders and everyday reality.

Extravagant, tone-deaf displays like this one will only deepen that awareness.

If there’s any good to come from this kind of abuse of public funds, it brings us one step closer to a post-ANC era in the country. South Africans deserve better.

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