Secretary to Parliament Gengezi Mgidlana spent a whopping R44 320 on being chauffeur-driven in a Mercedes-Benz on one of his overseas trips.
In July, Mgidlana was on a “study visit” in Budapest, Hungary, where he was chauffeur-driven in a Mercedes-Benz E-Class at R8 660 per day for five days. An extra R1 020 was incurred for a taxi trip to the airport to catch a flight out of that city.
Parliament documents reveal that Mgidlana’s penchant for the good life at taxpayers’ expense continues unabated, despite an outcry from opposition MPs earlier this year.
His expensive tastes have been condemned as they took place in a year when Parliament was not paying workers’ bonuses for the first time since 1994 and was cutting down on expenses.
City Press has previously reported that Mgidlana and senior parliamentary staff spent almost R2 million in “benchmarking” trips, flying business class and staying in five-star hotels in the UK and Turkey.
While in London, Mgidlana stayed in a R14 050-per-night (R42 150 for three nights) room at the luxurious Conrad London St James Hotel.
The documents show that Mgidlana was travelling to the President Hotel in Budapest, but it is not clear whether this is where he was accommodated during the trip.
What is clear is that Mgidlana continues to spend lavishly, despite the fact that the institution he leads is not able to provide for the needs of MPs owing to cost-cutting.
Just two weeks after MPs berated him during a parliamentary debate for “wasting Parliament’s limited resources on luxury overseas trips, flying business class and staying in five-star hotels”, Mgidlana spent five nights at the s****y Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton.
