ANC-run eThekwini redirected service delivery funds to purchase R22 million statues
2 June 2023
The DA in eThekwini is enraged by the ANC-run municipality’s decision to go ahead with the purchase of two statues to the tune of R22 million. This is an insult to already burdened ratepayers who don’t receive the services they are paying for.
The ANC has for some time now unashamedly ignored calls for cost-cutting and austerity measures and instead decided to spend R22 million on these statues of Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo.
This is on the back of a budget that was recently passed that clearly does not speak to the needs of residents and also includes ludicrous tariff increases.
It is unacceptable that the ANC in eThekwini forged ahead with this amidst the crisis of the toxic sewer spills suffocating the beaches and rivers, which is the mandate of the very same Parks and Recreation unit. Over the years, the expenditure appears to have ballooned, with project estimates initially touted at R11million. Further adjustments over the years have been strenuously opposed by the DA especially because money was being taken away from critical basic services like water and the fire department.
In the 2020 adjustment budget, funds to the tune of R6.5 million, originally earmarked for specialist firefighting vehicles were redirected for the two contentious struggle statues. In the same budget, a further sum of R1.3 million was adjusted away from purchasing vehicles. Last year, money was then redirected away from the Tongaat Water Works for the statues.
Clearly the focus of the governing party is only on frills and feeding at the trough - not with any intention to rescue eThekwini from the abyss of decay and failed services. They must be slammed for using taxpayers' money intended for service delivery.
Wave after wave of corruption and wasteful expenditure has become the trademark of this failed leadership and its allies.
The DA urges every resident to register to vote them out of office in 2024 as that is the only way to achieve change, because it is only where the DA governs, that life is better
Issued by Yogis Govender, DA eThekwini executive committee member, 2 June 2023
