Johannesburg - ActionSA KZN chairperson Zwakele Mncwango says the party is outraged after eThekwini Metro allegedly used R5 million of taxpayers’ money to fund the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) Elective Conference in the province.
Mncwango said the party was outraged to learn that the eThekwini Municipality used funds earmarked for service delivery to fund the ANCWL Elective Conference, which took place at the Durban International Convention Centre (ICC) on the weekend.
Mncwango said the party had been informed of the recent mismanagement of funds to boost the ANCWL's elective conference.
ActionSA's statement comes after reports indicted that 27 delegates to the conference were denied the right to vote for the top five officials to lead the provincial structure, which saw Nonhlanhla Khoza elected as provincial chairperson.
‘’The information that we have obtained reveals that the ANC initially booked the venue for the ANCWL Elective Conference, but the order was changed from the ANC to the eThekwini Municipality, along with the event’s name from the conference to ‘Woman’s Month Launch’,’’ Mncwango said.
He said ActionSA was made aware of the irregularities in the event ahead of Women's Day on Monday.
‘’We were reliably informed that the so-called ‘Woman’s Month Launch’ was set to take place from the 4th to the 6th of August 2023 at Arena Halls 5 and 6, but such an event did not take place at the venue for these days. Instead, it was the ANCWL Elective Conference that took place,’’ he said.
He said the party would be writing to the ANC's provincial secretary, Bheki Mtolo, to investigate the matter.
Mncwango said the information given to him suggests that the contractual agreement between the eThekwini Municipality and the ICC reflects an order number of R5 089 781.40, which will cover all costs for the entirety of the conference. He added that this order was raised by the Governance and International Relations Department within the eThekwini Municipality.
‘’A total of 1 350 guests were paid for in the above order, and we know that ANCWL delegates were close to that figure together with non-voting delegates,’’ he said.
Mncwango said this impacts service delivery in the province negatively.
‘’While the municipality faces a vast number of troubles, ranging from poor leadership, corruption, and dilapidated and vandalised infrastructure, it is shocking that municipal leadership would see fit to redirect these funds towards the fulfilment of ANC activities.
‘’With this information, we have written to the KZN Secretary of the ANC, Mr Bheki Mtolo, seeking information and proof of invoices, orders, and a contract, which will serve as proof to disprove our allegations that public funds were used to pay for the conference. The ANC must pay the R5 million bill, not the ratepayers of eThekwini.’’
‘’We have also written to the eThekwini City Manager, Musa Mbhele, and CFO, Sandile Mnguni, bringing this matter to their attention and calling on him to put an immediate stop to this order. We are aware that the city has yet to receive a final invoice from the ICC and has 30 days to pay as per agreement. We demand that the accounting officer give effect to his duties to prevent any irregular expenditure pursuant to the prescripts of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA),’’ Mncwango said.
The party said it would be instituting a legal process against the eThekwini city manager, Musa Mbhele.
‘’Should the City Manager fail to stop this payment, as the accounting officer, we will be taking legal action against him,’’ Mncwango added.
The Star