Johannesburg - The Mpumalanga legislature spent over R10 million on food for the year of 2013/2014, the Sowetan reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper said according to the Democratic Alliance in the province, R10,8 million was spent on catering.
This exceeded the budget by around 54 percent.
This excluded money spent on the state of the province address, taking the legislature to the people or any other sectoral parliaments, according to DA provincial leader Anthony Benadie.
Mpumalanga legislature speaker Thandi Shongwe said the catering budget must decrease by more than R5m by next March but Benadie said no plan had been tabled for this.
National Parliament spokesman Luzuko Jacobs told the paper that there was no free lunch for MPs there but food was provided for committee sittings.
Members of civil society, the media and the public who attend the sittings were also given food.
The food was supplied because meetings sometimes start early and run late with participants not having time to go out for food, as they were required to conclude proceedings on the agenda. - Sapa