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The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the misleading statements recently made by ActionSA which have sought to whip up public outrage about the official vehicles used by the Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen.

ActionSA’s claims are untrue and damage the credibility of its leaders who have promised South Africa that they will play a constructive oppositional role from their place on the backbenches in Parliament.

The facts however paint a different story and are worth setting out as they expose the disingenuous agenda of those who have leapt on the bandwagon of sensationalism as well as the hypocrisy of ActionSA.

All ministerial vehicles for DA cabinet ministers are inherited from the previous administration and the acquisition of new vehicles has been strictly blocked by the DA ministers themselves.

Similarly, while all inherited vehicles are equipped with blue lights, DA Ministers have made it clear that the blue lights in their official vehicles will not be used under any circumstances.

The DA believes that no Minister has the privilege to travel by means of blue light convoys which disrupt traffic and grant Ministers the unwarranted luxury to not plan their travel and appointments wisely.

DA ministers therefore instructed their security personnel to always abide by traffic laws and not make use of blue lights for all ministerial travel.

This is not a parliamentary perk. Instead, they are regarded as a tool of trade for members of the executive branch across the world. As has always been the practice, members of the executive are provided two official vehicles, in Gauteng and the Western Cape. Official vehicles are only provided in these provinces. When executing official duties outside Gauteng or the Western Cape vehicles are hired by the respective departments for ministers to attend to their work.

In Minister Steenhuisen's case he utilises:

• A 6-year-old Audi A7 inherited from the previous Minister Thoko Didiza with approximately 135 000 kilometres on the clock.
• A 7-year-old Toyota Prado with approximately 230 thousand kilometres on the clock inherited from the erstwhile Minister Senzeni Zokwana.

As these vehicles are not the personal vehicles of the minister, they are specified by government legislation and handbook and as both vehicles had been used by former ministers, they were both already specified with security features, the so-called “blue lights.” This is standard across all executive vehicles, including those utilised by provincial and local government executives.

In their rush to let their fantasy get in the way of facts, ActionSA have left themselves exposed as hypocrites.

Their current Mayor of Pretoria, Nasiphi Moya has two luxury BMW vehicles fitted with security features that she utilises for her official duties.

Additionally, the ActionSA Speaker of Johannesburg has two luxury BMW vehicles with security features that she utilises for official duties.

Surely if this was principled stand instead of a puerile political stunt, ActionSA would have rather chosen to lead by example and force their executive office bearers to eschew the tools of trade utilised by executive members?

The DA Federal Leader did not lead his party into government with a mandate from millions of voters to enjoy the type of perks Herman Mashaba enjoyed when he served as mayor. In fact, the minister's enjoyment of his role has come from engaging with and serving in government the amazing farmers and farm workers that feed South Africa every day.

These desperate lies about the vehicles Minister Steenhuisen travels in, distract from the work the GNU is doing to help our country's agriculture sector.

The DA is proud of what all DA ministers have done in continuing to save costs on cars, offices, travel expenses and to ensure that resources are poured instead into service delivery, job creation and growing the economy.

Issued by Willie Aucamp MP - DA National Spokesperson