DA sickened by the leaked NW Presidential Imbizo expenditure
16 March 2022
The DA is disgusted by the leaked commitment letters seemingly signed by the Acting Director Supply Chain Management, Asset & Transport in the Office of the Premier, for services to be rendered for the North West Presidential Imbizo held in Mahikeng on Saturday, 12 March 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the Imbizo.
The commitment letters commit a total amount of about R3,5 million. Find the commitment letters attached here.
Today, the DA submitted parliamentary questions to the Premier, Bushy Maape, to confirm the total expenditure for the Imbizo as the leaked amount might not be the total, considering that transport services are not forming part of it. While it appears as if the majority of the service providers utilized are local businesses, we will still ascertain who the owners of the companies are and verify whether Supply Chain Management processes were followed in the procurement of goods and services.
If indeed the commitment letters are anything to go by, it is ludicrous that such a hefty amount would be spent on a one-day gathering. We have previously said that such Imbizos are nothing but gatherings where empty promises are made, and people are taken for a ride.
The government could have just identified areas in Mahikeng with urgent service delivery challenges and utilized that amount towards improving service delivery and maintenance of infrastructure, seeing that a week before the President graced Mahikeng, potholes were patched only on the roads that he was to drive on on his way to the Imbizo venue.
With that amount, the residents of Weltevreden could have had their flooded road made drivable again; the Seweding village graveyard could have been fenced and cleaned; the pothole-ridden roads in Unit 8 could have all been filled, and Rotaris Old Age home in Mahikeng could have received a donation for daily food supply for the elderly. Instead, the government opted for a one-day jolly ride rather than actual service delivery.
The spending on the Imbizo, which the DA believes is more than the leaked R3,5 million, is a stark reminder that the ANC government does not care about the residents. The DA will be following this matter up.
Issued by Freddy Sonakile, DA Spokesperson, Office of the Premier, 16 March 2022
