A Municipal official who was part of the delegation who attended the Durban July earlier this year replied to the Herald’s request for comment with a picture of the journalist and his children.
This was seen as a thinly-veiled threat. The journalist reported the matter to the municipal manager who undertook to deal with it. The Herald is still considering its legal options in this regard. According to Hugo Redelinghuys, The Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ) executive director, the FCJ is deeply concerned about the action and the intimidation displayed by the municipal worker.
“What we find even more disturbing, is the ill-concealed threat against his two under-aged children. This is unacceptable behaviour by a public official against one of our members who is only doing his job. Community newspapers are the eyes and ears of local taxpayers and should not be hindered to fulfill their watchdog roles. We urge the local government authority in Potchefstroom to speedily investigate this case against the worker involved and ensure that he is brought to book,” said Redelinghuys.
The Herald requested comment from three officials who were part of the delegation but did not work in the Local Economic Development sub-unit. All three declined to comment.
The trip was financed from income that is being held in trust by one of the municipality’s lawyers. This money comes from a rental agreement where a piece of the Eleazer farm, owned by J.B. Marks, was rented out for mining.
This income, Ralekgetho explained, was ring-fenced for local economic development.
LED is a sub-unit within the municipality, which falls under the management of the department of municipal services. However, it seems that no officials from this sub-unit were part of the delegation.
The Herald could confirm that at least three officials who made up part of the delegation to Durban earlier this year do not work in this sub-unit.
One of the officials also took his wife to the event, although Ralekgetho previously denied that the municipality had paid for any spouses to attend.
According to Ralekgetho, a report about the trip would have been served at the next council meeting. To date, no such report has been discussed by the municipal council yet.
“The Hawks are investigating all matters related to this case. Council will not comment at this stage but let this run its course before taking it any further,” said Willie Maphosa, municipal spokesperson, in response to the Herald’s enquiries.
Because of the Hawk’s investigation, the Herald has decided not to reveal the identities of the officials who were part of the Durban delegation.
This investigation comes after the Herald reported earlier this year about an extravagant trip to Durban, which included an outing to the Durban July. The entire trip cost the municipality, R161,329,82. In his response to the Herald’s previous article, the municipal manager, Mr. Lebu Ralekgetho commented that the Durban July was part of an extended trip to KZN. This, he said, was in line with the city’s strategy of positioning itself as a mecca for sports, arts, and culture and establishing J.B. Marks as the destination of choice for sports camps for international and national teams and arts and cultural events.
“Major annual sporting events are potential benchmarks but are also used effectively for networking with the relevant roleplayers and decisionmakers who frequent such events,” he said in a previous response. He cited municipal events like the Athletics Grand-Prix Championships and the Cross Country Athletics Grand Prix as successful results of this kind of interaction.
https://potchefstroomherald.co.za/64163/municipality-spends-big-durban-trip/
