DA QUESTIONS R6 MILLION SPENT ON THE NEW AGE

28 April 2015

The Democratic Alliance will be requesting a full report from the Office on the Premier on its spending on The New Age. This follows the tabling of the annual performance plan for 2015/16.

We are shocked that the Office of the Premier spent R6 million on one newspaper in one year alone. To spend R6 million in a year, you must spend R500 000 in a month. How many subscriptions, adverts, tenders and backdoor deals do you need to total R500 000 a month?

It does confirm a report last year from the Diamond Fields Advertiser that the Office of the Premier is spending R500 000 a month on The New Age.

It is interesting to note that the Northern Cape edition of The New Age reports on every single ANC event while coverage of the opposition is sparse at best. Every newspaper has the right to decide for itself what is considered newsworthy and what isn’t. But R6 million can probably buy a lot of newsworthiness.

The director-general attempted to cover for the shocking expenses by saying that The New Age is the most widely read paper in the province and that it achieves best value for money to place adverts in The New Age. However, AMPS figures show a readership of only 153 000. That might be impressive if it was the readership in the Northern Cape, but that is its readership nationally. By comparison, the Volksblad has a readership of 123 000 and the Diamond Fields Advertiser one of 81 000.

The Office of the Premier needs to come clean.

Statement issued by Andrew Louw, MPL, DA Provincial Leader, April 28 2015