THE house that was not good enough for sacked cabinet minister Sicelo Shiceka has six bedrooms and spectacular views, and is worth at least R9-million.
Instead, the "sick" minister moved into a multimillion-rand government penthouse suite while it was being renovated.
Shiceka was fired by President Jacob Zuma this week as minister of cooperative governance. Zuma did not givereasons.
Shiceka had been on sick leave for months, andit emerged he had spent a fortune staying in a luxury hotel because of an "influx" of mosquitoes at the mansion.
The Sunday Times also revealed how he had visited a jailed girlfriend in Switzerland at taxpayers' expense while staying in a five-star hotel.
His fall from power followed a damning probe by the public protector triggered by several Sunday Times exposés.
He was found to have wasted more than R1-million of public money on needless travel, R146,000 of that to stay in the six-star One&Only hotel in Cape Town.
This week, the Sunday Times identified his residence as a 534m² mansion on the highest street of the Cape Town suburb of Oranjezicht.
It has two driveways, a pool and a police guard hut. Municipal records show it was valued at R9-million in 2009.
In his responses to the public protector, Shiceka said he used the One&Only hotel because of "technical challenges" at his residence and because of "an influx of mosquitoes".
However, his immediate neighbour, tour operator Mario Filippi, said: "In 21 years here, I have never seen more than one mosquito at a time. That house could accommodate me and my entire extended family very comfortably."
Filippi said neighbours had joined together to defeat a proposal for high security walls around the property while Shiceka was staying there.
The house is listed, according to city valuation records, as having been built in 1953, which supports Shiceka's contention that the residence could have had technical problems. But a public works inspection report described the condition of the amenities as "reasonable".
Public protector Thuli Madonsela found that he had used the house regularly for over a year, which, she said, was "inconsistent with the suggestion that his residence was uninhabitable".
In addition to his primary ministerial home in Bryntirion Estate in Pretoria, Shiceka moved into his Cape Town mansion in November 2009.
The Sunday Times established that a R3-million seaside penthouse was made available to him for the past seven months while he was absent on sick leave.
A letter dated August 31 2011 from former minister of public works Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde - who was also fired this week - stated that a penthouse apartment at Sunrise Villas in Muizenberg had been allocated to Shiceka since work began on a "total upgrade" of the mansion on March 31.
Records show that the Department of Public Works spent R7.8-million on two penthouse apartments and five small flats at Sunrise Villas in 2005.
However, Botshelo Rakate, spokesman for the Department of Cooperative Governance, said Shiceka had not made use of the Muizenberg penthouse, saying it also had technical problems.
Meanwhile, other details of Shiceka's taste for the good life have emerged. While on sick leave, he stayed in the presidential suite at the Lesotho Sun.
Madonsela found he had used the fictitious name "Nkagisang Ngesi" for the booking and had unlawfully tried to force his department to use taxpayers' money to pay the R25,000 bill.
- Timeslive
Instead, the "sick" minister moved into a multimillion-rand government penthouse suite while it was being renovated.
Shiceka was fired by President Jacob Zuma this week as minister of cooperative governance. Zuma did not givereasons.
Shiceka had been on sick leave for months, andit emerged he had spent a fortune staying in a luxury hotel because of an "influx" of mosquitoes at the mansion.
The Sunday Times also revealed how he had visited a jailed girlfriend in Switzerland at taxpayers' expense while staying in a five-star hotel.
His fall from power followed a damning probe by the public protector triggered by several Sunday Times exposés.
He was found to have wasted more than R1-million of public money on needless travel, R146,000 of that to stay in the six-star One&Only hotel in Cape Town.
This week, the Sunday Times identified his residence as a 534m² mansion on the highest street of the Cape Town suburb of Oranjezicht.
It has two driveways, a pool and a police guard hut. Municipal records show it was valued at R9-million in 2009.
In his responses to the public protector, Shiceka said he used the One&Only hotel because of "technical challenges" at his residence and because of "an influx of mosquitoes".
However, his immediate neighbour, tour operator Mario Filippi, said: "In 21 years here, I have never seen more than one mosquito at a time. That house could accommodate me and my entire extended family very comfortably."
Filippi said neighbours had joined together to defeat a proposal for high security walls around the property while Shiceka was staying there.
The house is listed, according to city valuation records, as having been built in 1953, which supports Shiceka's contention that the residence could have had technical problems. But a public works inspection report described the condition of the amenities as "reasonable".
Public protector Thuli Madonsela found that he had used the house regularly for over a year, which, she said, was "inconsistent with the suggestion that his residence was uninhabitable".
In addition to his primary ministerial home in Bryntirion Estate in Pretoria, Shiceka moved into his Cape Town mansion in November 2009.
The Sunday Times established that a R3-million seaside penthouse was made available to him for the past seven months while he was absent on sick leave.
A letter dated August 31 2011 from former minister of public works Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde - who was also fired this week - stated that a penthouse apartment at Sunrise Villas in Muizenberg had been allocated to Shiceka since work began on a "total upgrade" of the mansion on March 31.
Records show that the Department of Public Works spent R7.8-million on two penthouse apartments and five small flats at Sunrise Villas in 2005.
However, Botshelo Rakate, spokesman for the Department of Cooperative Governance, said Shiceka had not made use of the Muizenberg penthouse, saying it also had technical problems.
Meanwhile, other details of Shiceka's taste for the good life have emerged. While on sick leave, he stayed in the presidential suite at the Lesotho Sun.
Madonsela found he had used the fictitious name "Nkagisang Ngesi" for the booking and had unlawfully tried to force his department to use taxpayers' money to pay the R25,000 bill.
- Timeslive
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