Ntshavheni refers travel costs to JSCI, deputies rack up R10.5m bill
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has referred questions seeking a detailed breakdown of her official travel and associated costs to parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence (JSCI).
This comes after ActionSA MP Dr Kgosi Letlape questioned Ntshavheni in a parliamentary question about her official travel since assuming office in July 2024.
Letlape questioned why some of Ntshavheni’s official trips were shared publicly on social media platform X while information about her travel was not being provided through parliamentary scrutiny.
“Notwithstanding posting her official travels on X, which is a social media platform, why does she continue to defy the Constitution of the republic by refusing to provide the information under constitutional scrutiny?” Letlape asked.
He asked for a complete breakdown of all official travel undertaken by Ntshavheni and her deputy ministers since they assumed office on July 3 2024.
Letlape requested details about the purpose and justification for each trip, destinations and costs incurred, including transport, accommodation, meals and other incidental expenses.
The travels that are shared on social media platforms are those that [are] public in nature. The information provided to the JSCI is for all the trips undertaken— Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, minister in the Presidency
He also sought the names and roles of accompanying support staff, their respective costs and any additional expenditure associated with each trip.
In response, Ntshavheni said the trips she shares publicly are those that can be disclosed publicly, while information about all trips is provided to the JSCI.
“The travels that are shared on social media platforms are those that [are] public in nature. The information provided to the JSCI is for all the trips undertaken,” she said.
Ntshavheni said the portion of Letlape’s question seeking details about her travel had been referred to the JSCI.
While a breakdown of Ntshavheni’s travel was not provided in the public parliamentary response, the document disclosed travel expenses for deputy ministers Nonceba Mhlauli and Kenneth Morolong and members of their support staff.
Between July 3 2024 and March 31 2025, travel expenses for the two deputy ministers and their staff totalled about R4.1m. The costs increased to about R6.4m for the period from April 2025 to February 2026, bringing the combined expenditure disclosed in the response to about R10.5m.
Mhlauli and her support staff accounted for about R3.14m across the two periods. The expenditure included:
Morolong and members of his support team accounted for about R7.36m in travel expenditure over the two periods. This included: