King Goodwill's travel costs of R800,000 a month

The king's travel costs were discussed at a meeting of the KwaZulu-Natal finance portfolio committee on Thursday (22 November).

Committee member and Inkatha Freedom Party MPL Roman Liptak said the figure was a monthly average.

According to documents tabled at the meeting, chief financial officer in the Royal House department, Mduduzi Mthembu, suggested it was difficult to control the king's travel and associated costs.

Mthembu said at least R820,000 had been used a month for the hire of private jets and helicopters when the king was criss-crossing the province to perform his duties.

It had not been established how many times the king's bill had hit the R800,000 mark during the current financial year.

The royal household was allocated a budget of R59.5m in the current financial year.

Three months ago there was an outcry when officials of the royal house asked for a further R12m for constructing a house in the king's eNkonyeni palace, and a further R5m to convert a farmhouse into a home for the monarch's youngest wife, Zola Mafu.

Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge