The Greater Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) will send 125 participants to the games. It is unclear how much they will be spending on the event but according to GTM, it is paid through fundraising and sponsorship. This came to light after the DA’s Lindy Wilson, a member of the provincial legislature, wrote a letter to the MEC of COGHSTA, Basikopo Makuma, querying the expenditure of the games that take place from September 3 to September 8 in Gaborone in Botswana.
“It is not clear how much each municipality attending the games will spend but GLM indicated in a report that an amount of R2.172 million from the sports program and R307 941 from the employee wellness program is available to fund the trip for an estimated 78 employees and eight members of the corporate and shared services portfolio committee,” said Wilson. She said that GTM’s report recommended the participation of 115 participants and that they would be granted paid leave.
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Six councilors, the mayor, the municipal manager, the community services director, and the sports manager will accompany the team to the games. “It is unacceptable that cash-strapped municipalities in the province spend scarce resources sending large contingents of participants and unnecessary non-participating members such as mayors, councilors, and senior management. The fact that these municipalities are failing to provide adequate services to residents and will have large numbers of employees absent for a week will only worsen services,” said Wilson.
“This money could have been used to ensure that sporting facilities are well maintained and sports programs in the municipality are well resourced to benefit residents,” Wilson said. Matome Serumula, a DA ward councilor in the GLM, said he questions the big delegation attending the games. “Will they all be participating, or are some just going for cheering?” asked Serumula. The Herald reached out to GLM’s spokesperson, Lovers Maenetja, and GTM’s spokesperson Vutivi Makhuvele for comment.
Makhuvele said that the games are called the Southern African Inter-Municipal Games, which aim to promote employees’ well-being and productivity. “The games are not funded by the municipality but through fundraising and sponsorship. All employees who are going will be participating,” said Makhuvele. Maenetja said that the Council has approved participating employees of the SAIMA games to take part in the international games taking place this coming week.
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“This is part of a wellness programme that has been budgeted for which its sole aim is to care for the mental and physical well-being of municipal employees. The programme cuts across municipalities in the whole continent. A healthy employee is more productive, and sport is part of the employee wellness programs that the municipality has endorsed to make sure that the mental well-being of municipal employees is taken care of,” she said.
She said that employees come to the work environment with many challenges from their homes and personal lives already. “They also get into the work environment and are expected to deal with a lot. As the municipality, we owe it to them to create a conducive working environment which includes participation in these sports. Their well-being equates to production in the workplace, hence this programme is given the attention it deserves,” concluded Maenetje.
