South Africa’s Presidency Spends Millions on Car Hire for Deputy Ministers

What the Figures Show

Between July 2024 and February 2026 the Presidency paid more than R2.7 million just to hire cars for Deputy Minister Kenny Morolong. That works out to about R250 000 each month. In contrast, Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who oversees the State Security Agency, refused to reveal her own travel costs to Parliament.

How the Money Was Split

Deputy Minister Kenny Morolong

• First nine months (July 2024 – March 2025): R167 141 on car hire.
• Next eleven months (April 2025 – February 2026): R2 757 409 on car hire.
• Total car‑hire spend: R2 924 550.
• Overall office travel (including flights, accommodation and meals): R7.36 million.
• His personal travel cost R5.06 million over the whole period.

Deputy Minister Nonceba Mhlauli

• First nine months: R788 075 on travel.
• Next eleven months: R1.20 million on travel.
• Total travel: R1.99 million.
• Car hire made up R1.33 million of that amount.

Where the Money Went

Morolong’s Office

• Car hire accounted for R2.93 million of the R4.54 million spent from April 2025 to February 2026.
• Accommodation dropped from R850 221 to R375 686 between the two periods.
• Flights rose from R292 893 to R528 882.
• Staff costs were high: the head of office claimed R141 553 in subsistence and travel (more than four times Morolong’s own claim) and R374 318 for accommodation in the first nine months.
• A receptionist later racked up R70 730 in car hire.

Mhlauli’s Office

• Travel purposes were listed as “ministry outreach programmes in various provinces,” with only Kimberley and Upington named.
• A household aide travelled for “household support” at a cost of R17 050.
• The reply gave only total amounts per period, not a trip‑by‑trip breakdown.

Why the Secrecy?

ActionSA MP Dr Kgosi Letlape asked for a full list of every trip—purpose, destination, cost, transport, accommodation, meals, and the names and costs of anyone who travelled with the ministers. Ntshavheni supplied the details for her two deputies but withheld her own information, saying part of the request had been referred to Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence.

She argued that publishing her travel could jeopardise state‑security work, noting that roughly 80 % of her trips are related to the State Security Agency. In earlier statements she said releasing the data would “compromise some of the initiatives we’re working on.”

Letlape accused her of “defying the Constitution” by refusing to disclose the information while still posting some of her official trips on X (formerly Twitter). Ntshavheni replied that only public‑nature travel appears on social media, and that the intelligence committee received the full details.

Public Reaction

When ActionSA asked every minister in the government of national unity for their travel costs last year, Ntshavheni was the only one who sent her answer to the intelligence committee instead of making it public. Her reply arrived four months after the request.

The party’s tracker of ministers’ international travel showed the Cabinet’s bill at almost R450 million over 18 months, but Ntshavheni’s spending was left out because she never disclosed it.

Conclusion

The latest parliamentary reply reveals that car hire has become a major expense for Deputy Minister Kenny Morolong’s office, making up a large share of the Presidency’s travel budget. While the figures for Morolong and his colleague Nonceba Mhlauli are now public, Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni continues to keep her own travel costs hidden, citing national‑security concerns. The debate highlights the tension between transparency in government spending and the need to protect sensitive security information.