THIS IS HOW THE REGIME IN SA SPENDS TAXMONEY LAVISHLY!

The joke has gone too far. South african tax payers money is being spent like free water by this so called royal family. Try and find out how royal they are and you will be told about dingan and history. This is no royal house only a shred ploy to buy the rural zulu vote for the anc. In the 80s the anc tried to kill the now puppet king. His followers should pay his annual expenses by subscription. That way everyone else can have a good laugh at this silly pretence without having to foot the ever growing bill for its wasteful expenditure.

R132 000 in June, R183 000 in July and a total of R533 000 from June to October is how much one of Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini's wives spent last year on clothing alone while close to R10 million is needed to avoid the virtual collapse of some of the royal palaces.

That emerged yesterday as the royal household department appeared before the finance portfolio committee in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.

Acting department head Vusi Shongwe told the committee that a visit by engineers from the public works department had revealed the need for a multimillion-rand intervention at some palaces.

"According to their finding, R8.5 million is needed immediately and a further R23 million is needed for upgrades," said Shongwe.

The visit by the engineers followed an invitation by the king to the standing committee on public accounts during the opening of the legislature when he decried the state of some palaces.

The finance committee and standing committee on public accouints have criticised the runaway expenditure incurred by the royal household department, with some members pointing to the large entourage that accompanies the monarch to his engagements.

However, Shongwe said the king had done much to reduce his entourage from hundreds of people to under 50.

"Customarily, the king needs warriors to accompany him to functions, and even if he sends someone on his behalf they have to be accompanied by some people."

The treasury's report which details expenditure covering clothing for the queens, entertainment and other items raised the ire of some finance committee members.

Shongwe objected to making public some of the issues raised by the document, saying they bordered on infringing on the king's privacy.

Finance committee chairman Belinda Scott ruled Shongwe out of order, saying that the report was a public document.

According to the treasury report, R533 000 was spent on clothing by Queen Mantombi from June to October last year. "It is not clear whether the department should be responsible for these costs," reads the report.

Provincial director-general Kwazi Mbanjwa told the committee that handling the department was like walking a tightrope, as there was need to balance respect for the king with adhering to the Public Finance Management Act.

Shongwe has proposed a workshop for finance committee members, which he feels would enable committee members to understand the intricacies involved in the royal household.