A delegation of 49 government officials, including eight ministers and deputy ministers, flew business class to New York on a two-week junket - and failed to attend many of the sessions of the United Nations gender summit where they were supposed to represent South Africa.
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Three ministers, five deputies, three members of parliament and 38 other government officials - the largest delegation of any country - were sent to attend the 55th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in late February and early March.
The Minister for Women, Youth, Children and the Disabled, Lulu Xingwana, led the South African delegation which included Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini and deputy ministers Elizabeth Thabethe of trade and industry, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu of public works; Deputy Police Minister Maggie Sotyu, her health counterpart Gwen Ramokgopa and Deputy Higher Education Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize.
The Sunday Times has established that:
•The delegates stayed at five-star hotels including the exclusive Ritz Carlton on Central Park, where prices start at R5500 a night;
•Mapisa-Nqakula failed to attend any of the sessions;
•A return business class ticket on SAA - the government's preferred carrier - costs to R81104 per person, according to the airline (officials are allowed to travel business class if their destination is more than four hours away); and
•The South African mission at the UN has complained to the Department of International Relations about the size of the delegation. The complaint was passed on to Xingwana.
The SA UN embassy was particularly irked by Mapisa-Nqakula who, despite forcing her way onto the guest list, failed to attend a single session of the two-week summit.
Her spokesman, Sonwabo Mbananga, said it was not possible for Mapisa-Nqakula to attend every session of the summit as she had officially gone on a study tour about best practices relating to prisons security with her counterparts at the City of New York Prisons.
Mbananga failed to explain why the minister failed to make a single appearance , even though she applied to be on the list of delegates.
"That's not why the minister was there, people must stop harping on this issue of the minister (not attending) a particular number of sessions as if minister was there for that. She wasn't. Minister is busy with the business of correctional services and that's what she was there for ... people must stop obsessing about whether minister was there and whether she attended sessions," he said.
Mbananga said Mapisa-Nqakula had received permission from President Jacob Zuma to undertake the New York trip. He showed Sunday Times a copy of the letter signed by an official in Zuma's office which grants her permission for the study tour of prisons. The letter, however, stipulates that Mapisa-Nqakula will "take advantage" of the tour to attend the summit.
A government official who was part of the trip told the Sunday Times that most members of the South African delegation who did not make it into the conference venue spent their time shopping and clubbing in New York.
It could not be established whether any of the ministers joined the shopping brigade.
A senior official who had to deal with some of the fallout from the junket, and who asked not to be named, said there was "lot of unhappiness" about not only the size of the delegation but the fact that many of those who travelled skipped crucial sessions.
"They knew even in advance that accreditation would be limited to two, at most four, (people) but still took a very large delegation. As to what they spend most of their time doing, it's really anyone's guess. New York is known for shopping and parties. "
Clayson Monyela, spokesman for the Department of International Relations, referred inquiries to the Department of Women, Children and the Disabled, saying it had coordinated the trip.
Sibani Mngadi, spokesman for that ministry, confirmed that the SA UN embassy was unhappy about the huge delegation sent to the summit.
"There was communication received from deputy ambassador (Doctor Mashabane) to this effect and the delegation was cut.
"The department has tried to keep the delegation at the most minimal in relation to subject matters and the concurrent events that need to be attended", said Mngadi. He insisted that all members of the government delegation were able to obtain accreditation.
