Cartoon of the day: 1 September 2025

South Africans are outraged that more than six million taxpayers’ money is reportedly being used to fund a trip for ministers and their entourages to New York, USA.

Ministers and their departments have been instructed to keep trips and costs to a minimum due to budgetary constraints, but these guidelines appear to have been ignored again.

According to TimesLIVE, an 82-person delegation attended the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in the city in March, where they stayed more than two weeks and racked up a hefty bill.

The department of Social Development spent more than R3m on the trip, the department of women, youth and people with disabilities R2m for five representatives, and the department of higher education R1.6m for the same number of delegates.

In the spotlight was the newly appointed Deputy Director-General for Welfare Services, Sizakele Magangoe, who seemed to celebrate her new job by spending more than R1 million. Her bill included stays at one of the city’s most expensive hotels and flights costing almost R200 000.

What about those they serve?

It is unclear how much value South Africa derived from sending so many delegates to the UN for the event, or if all of them even attended. However, it is concerning that those who reportedly spent the most were those who serve the poorest.

Most South Africans struggle to feed their families, while others are lucky to just make ends meet. More than 12 million people receive social grants every month, while almost two-thirds of the country (around 63%) of the country lives in poverty.

There are some days where we go to bed hungry, my child will say ‘Mama I’m hungry’.

“This torments me inside because I know how much hunger affects me as an adult, so how much more for them,” an unemployed mother of two told UNICEF during a 2024 visit to the Eastern Cape to assess child malnutrition.

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