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My friends all drive Hondas
Posted: November 02, 2009
Matthew Stern
A number of South African Government Ministers have recently revealed their extreme taste for extremely expensive cars. In so doing, they have been accused of being unethical and disrespectful of the poor. But it is wrong to blame our politicians for behaving like politicians. And this is why tight rules are generally put in place to curtail such extravagances - not only in South Africa, but throughout the democratic world.
The South African Government has correctly pointed to its own guidelines, which explicitly permit our leaders to spend up to R1.2 million on two cars every five years. It is worth comparing our own guidelines to those of some other countries - and the UK and Canada in particular, which are generally rated as amongst the best governed countries on our planet.
In Canada, Government Ministers are offered similar privileges to those of our own. But the maximum price limit for the purchase of an executive vehicle is around $35 000 (approx. R250 000). More than enough to purchase a top-end VW or even an entry-level BMW, but well below the R1.1 million spent by a number of South African Cabinet Ministers on their new BMW 750s. Moreover, Canadian Ministers are required to pay for the privilege of personal use, at a rate of 1% of the capital cost of the vehicle per month, and are also expected to pay tax on the benefit they acquire from non-business use. This would work out to around R15 000 per month for each BMW 750i purchased.
The UK does not allow Ministers to pick and choose their own vehicles, but instead, senior Ministers are allocated specific cars by the Government Car and Dispatch Agency. All other Ministers are expected to make use of a pool of cars managed by this same agency through a 'taxi-style booking service'. Unlike South Africa, the focus is not on big and brash, but on the cost of this service to the public and the environment. In the agency's 2007/08 annual report, they note that one of the most significant achievements by Government Cars has been the progressive reduction of CO2 emissions. In most cases, Ministers are provided with environmentally-friendly vehicles such as the Toyota Prius or the Honda Civic and the average engine size of the Ministerial fleet has declined from 2247cc in 2004/5 to 1770cc by June 2007. This is about one third of the engine size of a BMW 750i.
South Africa's Ministers need new cars. But this is no opportunity to splurge and show-off. If our leaders are incapable of taking reasonable care of the tax money that we pay over to them, then we need better guidelines to make them do so. Some simple lessons from our much richer counterparts in the UK and Canada show the way: either we impose severe limits on the amount of money Ministers can spend and the type of car that they can purchase; or we take away this privilege and get someone else to supply these cars to them.
The South African Government has correctly pointed to its own guidelines, which explicitly permit our leaders to spend up to R1.2 million on two cars every five years. It is worth comparing our own guidelines to those of some other countries - and the UK and Canada in particular, which are generally rated as amongst the best governed countries on our planet.
In Canada, Government Ministers are offered similar privileges to those of our own. But the maximum price limit for the purchase of an executive vehicle is around $35 000 (approx. R250 000). More than enough to purchase a top-end VW or even an entry-level BMW, but well below the R1.1 million spent by a number of South African Cabinet Ministers on their new BMW 750s. Moreover, Canadian Ministers are required to pay for the privilege of personal use, at a rate of 1% of the capital cost of the vehicle per month, and are also expected to pay tax on the benefit they acquire from non-business use. This would work out to around R15 000 per month for each BMW 750i purchased.
The UK does not allow Ministers to pick and choose their own vehicles, but instead, senior Ministers are allocated specific cars by the Government Car and Dispatch Agency. All other Ministers are expected to make use of a pool of cars managed by this same agency through a 'taxi-style booking service'. Unlike South Africa, the focus is not on big and brash, but on the cost of this service to the public and the environment. In the agency's 2007/08 annual report, they note that one of the most significant achievements by Government Cars has been the progressive reduction of CO2 emissions. In most cases, Ministers are provided with environmentally-friendly vehicles such as the Toyota Prius or the Honda Civic and the average engine size of the Ministerial fleet has declined from 2247cc in 2004/5 to 1770cc by June 2007. This is about one third of the engine size of a BMW 750i.
South Africa's Ministers need new cars. But this is no opportunity to splurge and show-off. If our leaders are incapable of taking reasonable care of the tax money that we pay over to them, then we need better guidelines to make them do so. Some simple lessons from our much richer counterparts in the UK and Canada show the way: either we impose severe limits on the amount of money Ministers can spend and the type of car that they can purchase; or we take away this privilege and get someone else to supply these cars to them.
