SHARPEVILLE, SOUTH AFRICA – MARCH 21: Gauteng Premier David Makhura addresses the audience during the Sharpeville massacre commemoration on March 21, 2017 in Sharpeville, South Africa. Makhura said, while South Africa has made advances since the dawn of democracy there’s still a lot more to do to ensure that all citizens enjoy freedom. (Photo by […]
Outrage over Gauteng gov’s spend of R15m on public holidays
More “wasteful” spending.
SHARPEVILLE, SOUTH AFRICA – MARCH 21: Gauteng Premier David Makhura addresses the audience during the Sharpeville massacre commemoration on March 21, 2017 in Sharpeville, South Africa. Makhura said, while South Africa has made advances since the dawn of democracy there’s still a lot more to do to ensure that all citizens enjoy freedom. (Photo by […]
The Democratic Alliance have expressed their outrage after Gauteng Premier David Makhura revealed that R15.2 million of the provincial budget will be spent on public holidays in the province.
The opposition party has labelled the spending a “colossal waste of public funds”. Kingsol Chabalala MPL, the DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Sport, Recreation, Arts, Culture and Heritage, has torn into that area of the province’s budget.
“This is a colossal waste of public funds as money could be better spent in developing the township economy and assisting the 242 000 young people that are unemployed in the province with finding a job.”
Current premier Makhura revealed the following amounts are spent on each public holiday:
Public Holiday Amount budgeted
Freedom Day – 27 April R2.4 million
Workers Day – 1 May R200 000
Youth Day – 16 June R3.2 million
Women’s Day – 9 August R2.5 million
Heritage Day – 24 September R8 million + R2.5million from Arts & Culture budget
Chabalala says that this kind of spending makes a mockery of the “radical economic transformation” that the ANC says they are pushing for.
“The provincial government could have collaborated with civil society, trade unions and private organisations to drastically cut expenditure and save money on these days of national celebration.”
The DA MPL also made implications of some dodgy dealings with the ANC and those close to them.
“However, the ANC-run province of Gauteng will now further extend a hand of patronage to service providers closely linked to their organisation.”
“It is disingenuous that jobseekers in the province struggle to find work whilst millions of rands are spent on frivolous ribbon-cutting exercises.”
These kinds of “wasteful” spending allegations have also previously been hurled at DA governments. Cape Town’s R80 million bicycle lanes and more recently the city’s plan to build a R3 million statue of Nelson Mandela.
