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Mutambara commutes to work weekly from South Africa
Lance Guma, SW Radio Africa
October 18, 2011

http://www.swradioafrica.com/2011/10/18/mutambara-commutes-to-work-weekly-from-south-africa/

Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara is costing taxpayers thousands of dollars every week flying business class between Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Mutambara lives in the posh Sandton suburb of Johannesburg with his wife and two kids but flies to Harare every Monday to do his job as Deputy Prime Minister. Every Friday evening the former student leader flies back home to South Africa.

SW Radio Africa has information that Mutambara is dropped off at Harare Airport every Friday night and takes business class flights back to Johannesburg. In South Africa members of the Zimbabwean embassy have to come and meet him at the airport. We are told they are not too amused by this weekly ritual.

In one incident last year embassy staff arrived late and Mutambara allegedly blew his top and made such a fuss he was warned about his behaviour by officials from the South African Foreign Affairs Department. Mutambara was told that if he repeated his behaviour he would be barred from entering South Africa.

Not only is Mutambara chewing up much needed taxpayer dollars with his weekly commutes, but SW Radio Africa has information he is second only to Mugabe in his expenditure on foreign trips. One trip to Davos, Switzerland gobbled up over US$67,000 for his entourage. Other trips to the United States and the United Kingdom have only added to his ballooning bill.

SW Radio Africa put this information to Mutambara in order to get his side of the story and he told this reporter: "Washaya nyaya here? (Are you desperate for stories?). He said he had no time to spend on commenting on 'useless stories' and that if we wanted comment on 'developmental issues' we can contact him any time. Before we could explain the importance of our story he ended the call.

In July Finance Minister Tendai Biti warned that government had blown US$30 million in foreign travel between January and June. Four months later that figure is expected to have grown. Biti said the amount was unjustifiably high given sectors like health and education were in desperate need of money.

"I appeal to the leadership of this country to strongly and boldly desist from unnecessary travel or reduce their entourage," Biti said. To curb this unnecessary expenditure Biti said he would be drafting a Public Finances Management Bill in order to try and restrict official spending to manageable levels.

In July SW Radio Africa reported how Mugabe overshot his annual travel budget by a massive 133 percent in just 6 months. He spent a total of US$20.6 million of the US$30 million cited by Biti. The 87-year-old has been to the Far East several times seeking medical attention and other endless summits across the globe. He regularly travels with an entourage of more than 70 people each time he flies out.

Meantime in Zimbabwe Mutambara lives in 'quite a small house' in Marlborough which he bought when he was still outside politics and working in the US. An 'official' house in Chisipite along Steppes Road is reportedly being built or renovated by the government for Mutambara. It's not clear if he eventually moved into this house whether his weekly commutes to South Africa would end.

Mutambara remains Deputy Prime Minister despite not leading any political party and despite not winning a single election. This year in January the smaller faction of the MDC replaced him at its congress, but instead of stepping down as DPM to make way for the new leader Welshman Ncube in the coalition government, Mutambara has continued to refuse to vacate the position.

The move prompted an angry response from the MDC led by Ncube, who later claimed that they had 'donated' Mutambara to ZANU PF. The matter is now before the courts, after a few Mutambara loyalists challenged the congress that elected Ncube as President. The matter has continued to boil over, especially during SADC mediated inter-party talks, given Mutambara does not represent any party.

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