ANC adds voice to the summit fiasco
We urge all the parties to resist the temptation of jumping into premature conclusion and respect the due process that has been put in place to get to the bottom of what seem to be an avoidable crisis.
THE ANC in eThekwini has become the latest party, to add it s voice on the growing list of those concerned about the irregular or fruitless expenditure, following the City’s decision to postpone the Social Cohesion Summit. The party said it believes the decision to host the summit was sound in view of its unfinished project of building a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society. The ANC still believes the city should continue hosting this important project of nation building at an appropriate time.
ANC eThekwini regional secretary Bheki Ntuli said “The ANC notes with concern the miscommunication that appears to have caused irregular or fruitless expenditure. The ANC will not rush into conclusions or premature apportioning of blame or guilt on any individual. It is for this reason that the ANC is calling on the city leadership to conduct a thorough investigation into all the events and the implications of this miscommunication. As the ANC we believe that all public funds must be handled with care and that there must be value for money in each and every rand spent and there must be accountability.”
However, Zwakele Mncwango, DA eThekwini caucus leader, said the city manager Sipho Nzuza needed to explain how much of the R2.1 million allocated for the conference had been spent when it was cancelled.
Meanwhile, the Diakonia Council of Churches said it was deeply concerned about the eleventh hour postponement of eThekwini Municipality’s third Social Cohesion Conference.
“Our concern is not only the high costs involved with the event raking up more than R2 million in the estimated budget, but also whether the decision to postpone the event might have been too late for service providers to put the processes on hold. This legitimate concern begs the question of who will pick up the cost of the huge oversight and whether the City and ratepayers will incur double the costs when the event is eventually rescheduled.We believe R2 million could go a long way towards social justice initiatives and we understand the importance of social cohesion and hope the conference will have had the desired outcomes,” said Reverend Ian Booth, Chairperson, Diakonia Council of Churches.
The ANC further called for all the parties to resist the temptation of jumping into premature conclusions and respect the due process that has been put in place to get to the bottom of what seemed to be an avoidable crisis.
.
