Tshwane Council parties while RDP houses remain half-built

The cash-strapped Tshwane Metro Council yesterday splashed out thousands of rands on entertainment and a dinner while Soshanguve RDP houses remain half-built.

The municipality organised a party to celebrate executive mayor Gwen Ramokgopa's State of the City address and a gala dinner at the Pretoria City Hall last night.

More than R300 000 was spent for the entertainment at Lilian Ngoyi Square, which featured music group Rhythmic Elements, DJ Black Coffee and local artists.

It could not be established how much the gala dinner cost, but sources within the ANC regarded it as wasteful expenditure.

The executive director for sports development, arts and culture and events programmes, Nthuthu Sipambo, defended the extravagance.

"This is an annual event and we budget for it every year. The R300 000 covers sound, lighting and the stage."

There was a large screen that showed the speech live at the square, but only a few people watched.

Most of them were pupils and students who had bunked classes to watch the performers.

"We just came here for the music. I don't even know what today is about or why it is significant, but I am loving the music performances," said one student.

Soshanguve Extension 10 community leader Samuel Kubayi said he could not understand how the local authority could throw lavish parties while there is no money to finish RDP houses.

Residents in the area protested about the non-delivery of services in the area on Monday.

"They keep telling us that there is no budget, but they can host parties to celebrate a speech.

"Construction has stopped here because of money but celebrations are continuing," said Kubayi.

The Pretoria News reported on Monday that the construction of municipal buildings had stopped due to lack of funds and would have to wait for the next financial year to be resumed.

DA councillor Brandon Topham said he saw the celebrations as "frivolous spending that will not benefit all residents of Tshwane".

"There are certain events that need celebrations, but this is not one of them," he added.

Meanwhile, thousands of Tshwane residents missed out on an opportunity to watch the live broadcast of Ramokgopa's address on DStv's channel 408.

According to council spokeswoman Dikeledi Phiri, the "service provider failed to make the necessary arrangements with MultiChoice".

Phiri said that according to specifications, the service provider was supposed to provide a link to the various viewing areas in the Tshwane area, but did not do so. He said he was not very happy.

Pretoria News

Posted at 10:32AM Mar 10, 2010 by Editor in Residential  |  Comments[3]