R10 million on flowers and gifts for employees, Lindiwe Sisulu could be in some trouble

South Africans are sadly used to reading reports on government officials spending ridiculous amounts of government money on even more ridiculous things. Well, unfortunately, we have another one of those stories today. This time, Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu is feeling the heat.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has expressed their dismay over a response they received from Sisulu regarding spending in her department during the 2013-2014 financial period. It is important to remember that Sisulu took up the job in May 2014. She was preceded by Connie September. Nevertheless, the DA wants Sisulu to account.

“Lindiwe Sisulu, revealed in a reply to a DA question that her department spent more than R10 million on flowers and gifts for employees, in the 2013-14 financial year

Minister Sisulu and her department need to explain why such an excessive amount of money was spent on gifts when it could have been used to address the housing backlog and could have built 100 RDP houses.”

The DA said that they want Sisulu to release the full list of beneficiaries and the reasons behind the purchases. DA MP Solly Malatsi has said Sisulu will release the list if she has “any respect for accountability.”

This revelation comes at a particularly bad time for Sisulu who has just accepted a nomination to run for the ANC presidency. The ANC will elect a new leader in December as part of their elective conference. Cyril Ramaphosa, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Sisulu are believed to be the most likely “top three”. Others like Mathew Phosa and Parliamentary Speaker Baleka Mbete are others that could garner nominations.

Sisulu recently appealed to ANC branches to “use their conscience” when voting for leaders at the conference.

“If you desire me to lead, I need an assurance from that we will travel this road together. If you are assuring me that we will be an anti-corruption entity, because we have seen how pervasive the perception of corruption is about the ANC, then nam ndiyavuma (I also agree) to stand as presidential candidate,”

Now, we South Africans sit and wait for Sisulu’s response. Could there be a good reasoning for that kind of spending?