The food is so notorious one MP reportedly started boycotting the meals entirely, shunning the canteen in favour of healthier options available off site, Sithole says. And in 2012 the country's health minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, said an expanding waistline was an occupational hazard for politicians. "The problem as a public representative is that there is food everywhere - that is the danger of this profession." But Luyenge says he has just the antidote - colleagues should try sweating it out in the official gym to keep the excess pounds at bay.