THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
Question 136
Mr J J Gunda (ID-NC) to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry:
What (a) is the total expenditure on hotel accommodation incurred by (i)
him and (ii) his deputy ministers including costs for accommodating the
(aa) VIP protection officers and (bb) support staff during the period 1
April 2009 up to the latest specified date for which information is
available and (b) are the names of the hotels, (c) were the total costs per
stay, including the (i) dates and (ii) names of persons accommodated?
CW212E
Response:
The mandate of the dti particularly in relation to trade, investment and
export promotion requires extensive international interaction. In this
regard, all travel and accommodation was in connection with official
business and executed in accordance with the Departmental Travel and
Transport Policy and the guidelines in the Ministerial Handbook.
For the period 1 April 2009 until October 2009, according to unaudited
information a total of R 1,139,785 was spent on accommodation. In total
this represents 0,02% of the dtiâs total budget.
In light of the economic downturn, the dti has instituted a number of cost-
saving measures such as utilizing economy class flights for all domestic
and short international flights for all officials, reducing the size of
international delegations and using the dti facilities for workshops and
meetings as the default option.
As soon as the specific details have been verified, a schedule will be
submitted directly to the member.