Durban — Opposition parties and a civil society group have rejected eThekwini Municipality’s decision to spend R9 million on izimbizo (mass service delivery gatherings), calling it a waste of hard-earned ratepayers’ money.
The parties argued against the proposal which was tabled during a full council meeting for approval on Thursday.
The ANC and its partners which pushed for the proposal narrowly won with 12 votes.
The DA questioned the expenditure, arguing that it was enough that the City had secured slots on two major radio stations to communicate the same message. The party said radio platforms combined with councillors’ loud hailing as well as regular meetings between councillors and residents were enough platforms for the City to communicate its work and for residents to raise their service delivery issues – and spending R9 million was thus a waste of money.
The IFP’s Mdu Nkosi also rejected the plan, saying as the opposition they viewed it as the ANC’s strategy to campaign for next year’s general election using taxpayers’ money.
Nkosi said if all opposition councillors were present at the council meeting on Thursday, the item would have been voted against, adding that the ANC and its partners only won with 12 votes to pass the item.
“Our argument is simple. Where is the need to go and tell people what you have done because if you have done what you promised people you’d do they will know. So why go and tell them something they know? Councillors as elected representatives of the people communicate the decisions of the council, including future programmes, so given that the City has secured slots on radio stations, we really do not understand the need for imbizos unless the ANC wants to campaign for next year’s general elections,” said Nkosi.
African Democratic Change’s Visvin Reddy said the proposal was a disgraceful and deplorable misuse of ratepayers’ money. He said the mayor and the ANC’s approval of this recommendation was a clear demonstration of their complete lack of concern for the financial well-being of the city and its inhabitants.
“At a time when the city is in crisis, with crumbling infrastructure and rampant crime, the allocation of such an exorbitant amount of money for a political rally is nothing short of outrageous. It is insulting to the hard-working citizens of this city who are struggling to make ends meet and trying to keep their heads above water. The ANC’s use of these events as electioneering campaigns is cynical and morally bankrupt. It shows a clear disregard for transparency and accountability and a preference for political gain over the needs of the people,” said Reddy.
He also lashed out at the councillors who supported the proposal, saying it was unacceptable that councillors who supported this gross abuse of public funds could do so without any sense of shame.
“They should be ashamed of themselves for enabling and participating in this wasteful, self-serving behaviour.”
The move was also slammed by Phoenix Civic Movement leader Vivian Pillay, who called it a waste of “hard-earned” ratepayers’ money.
He said these izimbizo would not solve the wasteful expenditure, corruption and tender fraud that were prevalent in the eThekwini Municipality.
Pillay called for the establishment of an oversight committee of all constituted civil society organisations in the civil council.
The office of the mayor defended the decision, saying that apart from media platforms used by the mayor to communicate with the residents, meeting them physically was equally important.
The mayor’s spokesperson, Mluleki Mntungwa, said it was important for the residents to directly interact with the mayor and in many instances the mayor ordered interventions on the spot.
Nelson Mandela Bay University-based professor Bheki Mngomezulu said the idea was initially good, but since these events never yielded any positive results, the opposition and civil society groups’ concerns were justified.
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