A former deputy minister has been instructed to vacate the ministerial home in Waterkloof, Pretoria, that he has been occupying for 20 months after being dropped from President Cyril Ramaphosa's executive.
The Sunday Times can reveal that although former deputy sports minister Gert Oosthuizen paid a "market related" rent for eight months after he got the chop, he owes the state more than R300,000 for the other 12 months at the house. The property is set aside for serving ministers and their deputies.
The ministerial handbook allows former ministers and deputies to stay in a state-owned home for up to a month after their term of office ends, or two months under exceptional circumstances.
The department now wants him out and has issued him with a notice to vacate.
Public works & infrastructure's acting director-general, Imtiaz Fazel, told the Sunday Times that after several engagements with Oosthuizen last year, the department served him with a notice to vacate the property on November 6.
Oosthuizen responded to that letter by saying he was looking after his 89-year-old mother and it was difficult for him to find alternative accommodation during the festive season. He informed the department that he would move out of the house by January 31, said Fazel.
"He said he experienced a delay in his pension payout, that he was looking for a property to buy," said Fazel. The department told Oosthuizen that he was responsible for market-related rent of R30,000 per month.
To date, he has paid R240,000 in rent - which equals eight months' rent. He has undertaken to pay the balance of R330,000 when he vacates the property.
Ministers and their deputies are allocated two state-owned residences, one in Pretoria and the other in Cape Town. They occupy one free of charge and pay a heavily subsidised rent at the other. The rent on Oosthuizen's home was about R1,200 a month in 2019.
Cabinet ministers receive an annual salary of about R2.5m, and deputy ministers earn just over R2m a year. Oosthuizen served as deputy minister of sport and recreation for 15 years between 2004 to 2019.
Ramaphosa dropped him from his executive in May 2019. He had been an MP for about 30 years - first elected to parliament in 1987 to represent the National Party. He joined the ANC in October 2000 and became its MP from February 2001 until the 2019 elections.
Oosthuizen confirmed that he had asked for an extension at the property "because I am to move a lot of things". He said he plans to leave by the end of the month.
He declined to discuss the matter further, but apologised "for the inconvenience". "I really do not have an option," he said, without elaborating.
DA MP Jan de Villiers said it is absurd that Oosthuizen still occupies the property.
"It is not acceptable that he is still sitting there 20 months later," he said.
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