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Cape Town - Wheels24 reader John Petersen has come up with some vehicles suggestions for South Africa's ministers and their deputies. following a response by Minister of Communications, Faith Muthambi.
On Tuesday, On Sunday (March 26), Wheels24 published a report released by the Democratic Alliance revealing government vehicle purchases from 2014 to 2016.
The Minister of Communications, Faith Muthambi, responded to the article. Click here for full response.
Reader John Petersen shares his views:
Firstly, the author in no way insinuates that a crime has been committed or claims so, for which the minister immediately comes to defence of, and secondly, the public has the right to know how their tax monies are spent on government officials who supposedly are public servants.
READ: SA Ministers' luxury cars - Minister Muthambi responds
Having said that, being in the service of the public, one would naturally assume that you would be accountable to the public and rightly so.
Thirdly, honourable minister, please attempt to explain to the public, please do your best, why a vehicle which would cost a third of the price of the luxury car which you have bought, namely a BMW X5, cannot be a tool of the trade as you so eloquently tried to use as justification.
Let me use my amateurish knowledge of the South African Motor Industry and its current trends regarding sales preferences to coach you in procuring a vehicle for government purposes.
I will call a list of acceptable vehicles for use by ministers and deputy ministers. To break it down even further for clarity purposes, I will set the benchmark for ministers at half of the value of your current tool of the trade and for deputy ministers at one third of that. I think that is fair.
For a third of the price of your choice of “tool” here are your options- for Deputy Ministers
1. Audi A1 Sportback 1.4TFSI SE - R335 000
2. GWM Steed 6 2.0VGT double cab Xscape - R329 900
3. Honda HR-V 1.5 Comfort - R334 200
4. Nissan Qashqai 1.2T Acenta - R349 900
5. Toyota Corolla 1.8 Exclusive auto - R349 400
6. Volkswagen Golf 1.4TSI Comfortline - R343 900
7. Volkswagen Jetta 1.4TSI Trendline - R335 400
For half the price of your choice of “tool” here are your options- for Ministers
1. Audi A3 sedan 2.0TDI - R499 000
2. Audi A4 1.4TFSI auto - R494 500
3. Audi Q3 1.4TFSI S auto - R483 500
4. BMW 120d 5-door auto - R498 400
5. BMW 220i coupe Luxury - R496 854
6. BMW 218i Active Tourer Luxury auto - R494 828
7. Mercedes-Benz A200d AMG Line - R494 300
There are much more brands to choose from but for sake of keeping choice relatively simple, I’ve selected some of the cars I personally like.