R7.8 million spent on magazines for KZN libraries with nothing to show for it
7 April 2022
The Democratic Alliance (DA) can today reveal that despite KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) Department of Arts and Culture (DoAC) having spent a whopping R7.8million on magazine subscriptions during the past two years, not a single one has been delivered to libraries in the province.
The finding comes after KZN’s Arts and Culture portfolio committee conducted an oversight inspection of the KwaQondile Modular Library in Umkhanyakude towards the end of March. When the DA asked library officials when they last received magazines, the reply was March 2020. Further probing by the DA has established that the situation extends across the province.
The DA is not surprised by this discovery. This Department, under MEC Hlengiwe Mavimbela, is a disaster from beginning to end.
Of particular concern is that the R7.8million bill for magazines was paid on the last day of the previous financial year, 31 March 2022. This is fiscal dumping. While Treasury Regulations do provide for pre-payments, these should be avoided at all cost give that there is no guarantee that the goods will be delivered, as in this case.