ANC Centenary: Jimmy Manyi's "pre-buttal" a sign of things to come

Last night, GCIS spokesperson Jimmy Manyi released a statement reacting to the DA's parliamentary question on the travel and accommodation expenses of government officials who attended the ANC's centenary celebrations in January.

The DA has not yet received the replies to the Parliamentary question. This statement is therefore an unprecedented "pre-buttal" by government. Mr Manyi is obviously trying to soften the blow before this particular bombshell explodes.

The DA recognises that the ANC centenary celebrations were events of national importance. But we do not believe it ethical or lawful to spend millions of rands worth of public money on an event that is, after all, party-political.

The ANC must have agreed with us at some level because Chairperson Baleka Mbete last year assured South Africa that the ANC had "no intention" of using state funds to finance the party's centenary celebrations.

That promise has obviously been broken in a big way.

We have already uncovered that R12 million of public money was spent on flying in foreign dignitaries to celebrate in Mangaung. Reports have also indicated that the Free State government spent at least R10 million to buy the venue of the ANC's founding conference, the Wesleyan School Church in Waaihoek, Bloemfontein. 

Judging by what Jimmy Manyi is now saying, the government probably spent further millions on flights and accommodation for government officials to attend.

Mr Manyi seems to be justifying the presence of government officials at Mangaung on the basis that many ‘happened' to be in the area anyway. He states further that he is "confident that their Mangaung experience will help shape them into public servants that serve the country with passion and humility."

This is all frankly irrelevant. The fact is that this is a fundamental blurring of party and state. If the Western Cape government had paid for government officials to attend a DA party-political event, there would have been a national outcry and rightly so.

The DA will monitor the replies to this particular question and will probe further to determine the extent to which public money was abused for the ANC centenary, despite promises that this would not happen. We will take the appropriate action with the appropriate authorities when the time comes.

Statement issued by Dr Wilmot James MP, DA Federal Chairperson, March 27 2012

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