South African staff at foreign missions are receiving "exceptionally generous" living allowances of up to R1.3-million per year in addition to their salaries, and allowances for education and accommodation.
This is according to a series of 27 public expenditure reviews conducted by independent consultants on behalf of the national Treasury and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in 2013.
The reviews are to be made public today by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesman Clayson Monyela said the amount paid as a cost of living allowance was determined by the Department of Public Services and Administration, but the allowances were paid to cover the additional expenses associated with living and working in a foreign country.
He said the department had been approached to make inputs on certain aspects of the expenditure review report and would be doing so, because it relied on "irrelevant and in some cases completely false" information.
Gordhan told parliament on Thursday the reviews would be published today, but because they had been prepared by consultants and outside experts, they did not necessarily reflect the government's position.
Monyela said "this is just like chapter seven of the old NDP [National Development Plan] which also made extremely flawed conclusions and recommendations and I am told that the same people who did chapter seven compiled this report, so those flaws from that report find expression in this report".
In response to a parliamentary question last year, Dirco indicated they spend about R3-billion annually on maintaining SA's 122 foreign missions that include high commissions, consulates and embassies.
Among the top five most expensive were the UN permanent mission in Geneva, London, New York, Paris and Brussels.
Monyela said while there were many calls to reduce the number of foreign missions abroad, they played an important role in negotiating trade agreements and marketing tourism to South Africa.
Foreign mission staff 'enjoying' generous allowances
South African staff at foreign missions are receiving "exceptionally generous" living allowances of up to R1.3-million per year in addition to their salaries, and allowances for education and accommodation.
This is according to a series of 27 public expenditure reviews conducted by independent consultants on behalf of the national Treasury and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in 2013.
The reviews are to be made public today by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) spokesman Clayson Monyela said the amount paid as a cost of living allowance was determined by the Department of Public Services and Administration, but the allowances were paid to cover the additional expenses associated with living and working in a foreign country.
He said the department had been approached to make inputs on certain aspects of the expenditure review report and would be doing so, because it relied on "irrelevant and in some cases completely false" information.
Gordhan told parliament on Thursday the reviews would be published today, but because they had been prepared by consultants and outside experts, they did not necessarily reflect the government's position.
Monyela said "this is just like chapter seven of the old NDP [National Development Plan] which also made extremely flawed conclusions and recommendations and I am told that the same people who did chapter seven compiled this report, so those flaws from that report find expression in this report".
In response to a parliamentary question last year, Dirco indicated they spend about R3-billion annually on maintaining SA's 122 foreign missions that include high commissions, consulates and embassies.
Among the top five most expensive were the UN permanent mission in Geneva, London, New York, Paris and Brussels.
Monyela said while there were many calls to reduce the number of foreign missions abroad, they played an important role in negotiating trade agreements and marketing tourism to South Africa.
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